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July 27, 2009
bron: The Daily Herald
Gert Jan Stortelers, Dutch Representative for the Windward Islands for the past four years, said farewell to Saba on Friday afternoon at a reception at the Queen's Gardens Resort.
Invited guests included members of the Island Council, former Lt. Governor Sydney Sorton, and several representatives of non-governmental organisations who had dealt with Stortelers on various Dutch-funded projects. Stortelers said that these projects had been a major part of his office's work until this responsibility was outsourced to funding agency USONA several years ago. Stortelers said he was returning to The Hague to complete two more years of government work before retiring, after a total of 46 years' service.
Stortelers joined the Dutch Navy when he was only 15. He said that he would be assigned to The Hague as a special consultant for the Netherlands Antilles dismantling process since he has spent nearly nine years in the Netherlands Antilles.
He said that the constitutional changes were very positive, especially for the BES islands Bonaire, Saba, and St. Eustatius. Stortelers said that there has been a long period of uncertainty but it would turn out well in the end, and he was sure that even what might go wrong would be redressed. He said that there has been a lot of progress on Saba and he has been very pleased with Saba's new young government and the appointment of Jonathan Johnson as Lt. Governor. "The island has a great future," he commented. He told the guests that it was a joy every time to come to Saba, and he always left the island in a heightened mood because of the friendly reception he always enjoyed. He recalled that when he initially came in 1990, the first person he met was Ray Hassell in Lollipops. Member of Parliament Hassell, who was in attendance, nodded in remembrance.
Stortelers added that he and his family, who accompanied him to the reception, would definitely return for a private visit. Lt. Governor Jonathan Johnson gave the family a framed piece of Saba lace as a souvenir.
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