Page 6 - AHATA

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local Saturday 3 June 2023
Watch out for Blue Crab Migration near Savaneta

(Oranjestad)—The depart- yellow road sign with “Land They are known to dig holes
ment of nature & environ- Crab Crossing” to remind deep in the beach sand in
ment in Aruba are urg- people to be cautious while seek of humidity.
ing motorists to watch out driving on the highway The diet of blue crabs con-
for blue crabs crossing on Pos Chiquito with blue sists of decomposed trees, cial for the preservation of
the road in Pos Chiquito crabs. Blue crabs in Aruba insects, scorpions and rest Why protect blue crabs? mangroves.
to make their way to the are found plenty near the of dead animals. Because they are of high Watch out for crossing
ocean. beach areas, especially in Nesting season for blue value for the ecology of blue crabs on the highway
Pos Chiquito, because of crabs is between June & the mangroves. Conserv- near Pos Chiquito & Santo
They added a new bright the amount of mangroves. July. ing the blue crabs is cru- Largo.q

This year we celebrate 20 years of Papiamento as the official

language of Aruba

On May 21, 2023, it was develop their multilingual
exactly 20 years since the skills. Most agree that stu-
Parliament approved the dents should become lit-
law that made Papiamen- erate in Papiamento and
to the official language of learn Dutch to a level that
Aruba. This law is called allows them to pursue edu-
"Landsverordening officiële cation in Dutch at the sec-
talen" (Official Languages ondary and higher levels.
Ordinance). Through this
law, both Papiamento and Papiamento in everyday
Dutch became the official life
languages of Aruba along- Although most Arubans
side eachother. speak an average of four
languages (Papiamento,
The goal of the law Dutch, English and Span-
In the explanatory memo- use Papiamento as a lan- of households speaking Pa- the years, extensive re- ish), the majority of citizens
randum of the law, it is ex- guage with equal value piamento (Pilot Census Oc- search has been conduct- on the island speak Pa-
plained that the objective to Dutch in all areas of the tober 2019), Papiamento ed on this topic, particularly piamento at home and
of this law is to formally es- community, both spoken has not played a significant regarding the language of outside, often time most
tablish that Papiamento and written. People have role as a language of in- instruction, which remains fluently than the other lan-
and Dutch are the official become more aware of struction, except in the two a sensitive issue. To address guages. Not only does Pa-
languages of Aruba. The their cultural identity and pilot schools of the Multilin- this problem, the Minister of piamento form a part of
memorandum further em- the importance of lan- gual School Project. Most Education and Sports, Mr. our historical and cultural
phasizes that these two lan- guage in this process. This students in Aruba are liter- Endy Croes, assigned the development, but to some
guages have equal value. is also explained in the ex- ate (reading and writing) Department of Education extent, our personal devel-
The law aims to promote planatory memorandum of in Dutch, which is a foreign (DEA) the task of conduct- opment as well. Our na-
the use of Papiamento in the law. language for them. Addi- ing a National Debate. tive language is one of the
the government and le- tionally, Aruba has a Dutch This process took place many aspects of our identi-
gal sectors. It also opens Papiamento in education education system, and the from March to December ty that connect us with the
the possibility for citizens Until the 20th century, value of diplomas is crucial 2022, involving more than trailblazers that have come
to request the translation Dutch was the only lan- for those who wish to pur- 50 consultations with vari- before us, with our fellow
of government documents guage of instruction in sue further studies. ous stakeholders within and man in the present, and
into Papiamento if they most schools in the ABC outside of the education with the future generation
have a legitimate interest. islands. Prominent individu- The question is: How can sector. In December, the of Arubans. Papiamento
This will encourage govern- als have argued since the we ensure that students DEA commission respon- is ingrained in all our ev-
ment departments to write 19th century that this was have a solid foundation in sible for the task provided eryday activities, whether
bilingual documents in Pa- not the best instructional their mother tongue while a preliminary advice to it be in a professional or
piamento. approach. The inadequate also providing them with the minister, and in March personal setting. It is for this
command of Dutch among the tools to continue their 2023, the final advice was reason that we hold such
Reason for the law students affected their per- studies? How can we es- delivered. The majority of pride for out native tongue,
For quite some time, and formance in other subjects, tablish a continuous lan- stakeholders expressed the and continue to strive for its
especially since Aruba's not just Dutch itself. These is- guage pathway from early desire for students to learn promotion and further de-
Status Aparte, there has sues persist in education to childhood education to four languages in school, velopment. q
been a growing desire to this day. Despite over 80% higher education? Over including Papiamento, to