St. Eustatius is a Caribbean island with 3,500 inhabitants and has been a public entity of the
Netherlands since 2010, in common with Bonaire and Saba. Whereas the laws of the (former)
Netherlands Antilles applied to the island until 10 October 2010, constitutional reform at that
time led to the introduction of numerous so-called BES laws, covering the islands of Bonaire,
St. Eustatius and Saba.
Inadequate heritage protection regulations for the Caribbean part of the Kingdom
In the European part of the Kingdom, the 2016 Heritage Act is in place. When it comes to protecting cultural heritage on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, the BES legislation falls short on several points compared to the Heritage Act.
A few examples:
- Formal reporting. The Heritage Act regulates that archaeological finds and the location where they were found must be reported by means of a notification obligation. Officially, the find must be reported to the minister, in practice the finder can contact the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands so that the find is registered in the central archaeological information system Archi. This regulation does not apply to the Caribbean islands.
- Certification. Under the Heritage Act, a company or organization must be certified to excavate archaeological remains. The Heritage Act does not apply to the Caribbean Netherlands.
- Quality assurance. Quality assurance for archaeological research is partly shaped by rules in the Heritage Act and partly by a system of certification based on the Dutch Archaeology Quality Standard (Kwaliteitsnorm Nederlandse Archeologie). These kinds of regulations do not apply to the Caribbean Islands.
- Supervision. Supervision is regulated through the designation of supervisors by the Executive Council. There is no Netherlands-based supervision of compliance with the Monuments and Historic Buildings (BES Islands) Act [as carried out by the Information and Heritage Inspectorate (Inspectie Overheidsinformatie en Erfgoed)
The remainder of this blogpost goes into more detail about the content and the differences between the BES laws (Monuments Law BES) and the Heritage Act.
About the The 2016 Heritage Act
The Heritage Act of 2016 harmonizes existing legislation and regulation, abolishes redundant regulations, and where possible places responsibility for the protection of cultural heritage with the field itself: museums, curators, archaeologists, owners and administrations. As such, the introduction of the Act has implications for regulations pertaining to (art) collections, archaeology and the conservation of monuments. The Heritage Act became effective in 2016. Source: https://english.cultureelerfgoed.nl/publications/publications/2016/01/01/heritage-act-2016
On page 45 of the English text of the Heritage Act is explained what the situation is for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, the three public entities (authorities) in the Dutch Kingdom, geographically located in the Caribbean:
"Since 10 October 2010, the islands of Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba (the “Dutch Caribbean”) have had the status of public authority [openbaar lichaam]. This legislative proposal will not apply in the Caribbean Netherlands, meaning that there will not be any change in the current situation. The acts that have been integrated into this legislative proposal also do not apply in the Caribbean Netherlands. For monuments and archaeology, there is a separate act, namely the Monuments and Historic Buildings (BES Islands) Act [Monumentenwet BES].
Based on that Act and the regulations applying to the BES Islands, the island governments can assign protected status to monuments. The Monuments and Historic Buildings (BES Islands) Act comprises a different system of protection to that in the legislation applying to the European part of the Netherlands. In the European part, the protection of monuments and archaeology is safeguarded above all in the legislation on spatial planning, and the Caribbean Netherlands has a different regime for that legislation also.
The chapter on the management of collections does not apply to the Caribbean Netherlands either. Management of the national collection is not allocated to any of the public authorities, and a locally based institution will not be charged by the Minister of Education, Culture and Science with the management of collections."
The 2016 Heritage Act vs. the 2010 Monuments Law BES
The three islands fall under the jurisdiction of the Monuments and Historic Buildings (BES Islands) Act (Monumentenwet BES) and only parts of the Heritage Act (Erfgoedwet). Identifying which parts of the Heritage Act actually apply to the public entities is a complex process. In response to our request, the Information and Heritage Inspectorate (Inspectie Overheidsinformatie en Erfgoed) provided the following information:
“The Heritage Act does not apply to the BES islands. At the time of the reform, a choice was made with regard to which Dutch legislation should or should not apply to the BES islands. As far as the conservation of monuments and historic buildings (which includes the conservation of both monumental buildings and archaeology) is concerned, it was decided that the BES
islands should retain their own legislation.
Currently, this means that the Monuments and Historic Buildings (BES Islands) Act applies. In the Netherlands, quality assurance for archaeological research is partly shaped by rules in the Heritage Act and partly by a system of certification based on the Dutch Archaeology Quality Standard (Kwaliteitsnorm Nederlandse Archeologie). These kinds of regulations do not apply to the BES Islands: the Monuments and Historic Buildings (BES Islands) Act is relatively sketchy, similar in that respect to the Dutch legislation in force before 2002. The above also has implications with regard to supervision.
The Monuments and Historic Buildings (BES Islands) Act provides for supervision through the designation of supervisors by the Executive Council. There is no Netherlands-based supervision of compliance with the Monuments and Historic Buildings (BES Islands) Act.
The Netherlands Information and Heritage Inspectorate is however tasked with supervising compliance with the BES Archive Act (Archiefwet BES). The supervisors responsible for compliance with the BES Archive Act are not designated by the Executive Council, but instead by the Minister of Education, Culture and Science (OCW).’’ [Email exchange with the
Information and Heritage Inspectorate, October 2021].
Laws & Ordinances
2016 Heritage Act (in English) https://english.cultureelerfgoed.nl/publications/publications/2016/01/01/heritage-act-2016
Heritage Act (in Dutch) https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0037521/2016-07-01
Monumentenwet BES (in Dutch) https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0028429/2010-10-10
Monuments Island Ordinance 2020 https://www.statiagovernment.com/documents/decrees-orders-and-decisions/2020/05/29/monumenteneilandsverordening-sint-eustatius-2020
Monuments Island Ordinance 1989 - Eilandsverordening ter uitvoering van de Monumentenlandsverordening 1989 en tot wijziging van de Bouw- en Woningverordening 1984 (Monumenteilandsverordening Sint Eustatius) https://lokaleregelgeving.overheid.nl/CVDR46831/2
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