Donkeys living in the Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire love visitors driving around in the park. They like to poke their head inside the car to see whether visitors have brought them a treat such as a carrot. (Photo courtesy of the National Ombudsman)
THE HAGUE–Good news for the donkeys in Bonaire and the local donkey sanctuary: the Bonaire government has resumed its financial contribution to this non-profit organisation that takes care of sick, wounded and orphaned donkeys after intervention by the Dutch National Ombudsman.
A few years ago, the Public Entity Bonaire suddenly ceased the funding for the care of donkeys by the Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire. This struck the National Ombudsman as strange since there are many roaming donkeys on the island which pose a hazard to traffic, nature and the public health.
To curb the nuisance and danger that the donkeys caused, a contract was signed between the Public Entity Bonaire and the Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire in September 2013. The contract including an agreement to catch the donkeys and to castrate the male animals.
A few years ago, the Bonaire government unexpectedly ceased payments. The owner of the Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire didn’t manage to reach a solution with the local government. The owner therefore decided to turn to the National Ombudsman for help in April 2016.
National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen and his team investigated the complaint and looked into whether the handling of the local government was in compliance with the principles of good governance.
The National Ombudsman found that the government violated the requirement of due diligence by not taking a decision whether to continue honouring the contract. Despite the repeated requests of the National Ombudsman and the owner of the Donkey Sanctuary in the past two years, the island government did not take a decision.
The National Ombudsman declared the complaint to be founded and advised the Public Entity Bonaire to take a decision in three weeks in which the agreement to resume the contract with the Donkey Sanctuary are clearly indicated. He also advised the government to keep the communication lines open in cases such as this one.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/80150-bonaire-pays-again-for-care-of-donkeys
View comments
Hide comments