Page 16 - ARUBA TODAY

A16 LOCAL
Monday 27 May 2019

Festive closing meeting Caribbean thinktank

THE HAGUE — The Dutch Minister of Agriculture,
Nature and Food Quality, Carola Schouten, was
present at the closing ceremony of the Carib-
bean thinktank that took place in The hague.
The Caribbean Thinktank was funded in order
to give her advice. The thinktank consistig of is-
land students are students or professionals from
the six islands who work and study in the Neth-
erlands en who feel involved for the develop-
ment back home. The educational foundation
WeConnect brought them together to bond
with the policy makers.

Themes
Three young think tankers gave a presentation
on behalf of their group on agricultural related
topics: the collection and re-use of rainwater,
food security, the pursuit of more local produc-
tion and finally “Sexy Farming” with attention to
the image of agriculture and the role of edu-
cation. Minister schouten was quite impressed
with the proposals presented and called on the
think tankers to continue. “I challenge you to
think further about this in consultation with the
local authorities and other partners in this field
such as knowledge organizations and offcourse
the farmers themselves.”

Inter-island cooperation
The plenipotenciary Ministers of Sint Maarten,
Curaçao en Aruba delineated an image on
what is needed on their island and they empha-
sized on working together for instance by cre-
ating a inter-island food market. “We all have
the same taste, so why not grow tomatoes in
Curacao, Cucumbers in Aruba or lettuce in Bo-
naire?, says Guillfred Besaril, plenipontenciary
Minister of Aruba. The Plenipotenciary Minister
of St. Maarten draw attention to the sharp rise
in food prices in the supermarkt, which was hit
by a hurricane.

Capacity Building
The think tank was led by the Curacao Public
Student Management, Gilberto Morishaw, who
has been an intern at the Ministry of Agriculture,
Nature and Food Quality thru WeConnect. “This
was a successfull experiment. A combination of
intership and thinktank with a versatile student
as Gilberto as midpoint. We are happy to have
made the connection between the highly edu-
cated Caribbean students in the Netherlands
and the Ministry. Next step will be to connect
the Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality fields
of the islands”, says WeConnect manager, tan-
ja Fraai.

Minister Schouten handed out the certificates
to all the participants of the thinktank. She also
announced that she will pay a working visit to
Bonaire, Saba en Sint Eustatius in September.q