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LOCAL Saturday 25 March 2023

King Willem Alexander met with Small Island Developing States

leaders and ministers

On March 21, 2023, King Willem Alexander of the King-
dom of the Netherlands organized a gathering with the
Prime Ministers and ministers of the Small Island Develop-
ing States.

The attendees included the leaders of Aruba, St. Maarten,
Bonaire, Curacao, St. Kitts, Barbados, Jamaica, Tuvalu,

Fiji, and the Maldives. During the encounter, they focused
mainly on the small islands concerning climate change
and water issues.

The Prime Minister stated that although similarities with the
other islands, Aruba is an exception regarding the chal-
lenges the other islands face, as these do not affect Aru-
ba. An important issue discussed was water availability in
the Caribbean Islands. Contrary to Aruba, many other re-
gional islands cannot supply water 24 hours to their com-
munities but only part of the day.

For Aruba, the sea water desalination plant is a blessing.
Many other islands hope to one day have such water pu-
rification plants.

WEB Aruba provides purified water 24 hours a day in a
steady supply which we must not take for granted. The
Aruban community should be more aware of the impor-
tance of water and use it consciously. It is a community's
commitment to using water consciously to guarantee its
availability for everyone. It is a big challenge to which the
Government is committed.

The Prime Minister thanked King Willem Alexander for or-
ganizing this encounter and addressing the issue in con-
text with the small islands since they usually do not get
due attention.q