Bonaire - Adventure Guide to Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao - page 147

The Obelisks of Bonaire
Look for three surviving obelisks near the salt pans. Around 1837,
the Dutch government built four of these large stone structures to
mark the spot where ships could pick up loads of salt for exporta-
tion. Originally, one was painted orange in honor of the Royal
House of Orange, and each of the others was painted a color of the
Dutch flag (red, white, and blue).

Oil & Tourism
Bonaire lingered in depression and despair until oil was discovered in
northern Venezuela in the early 1900s, and refineries were built on Aruba
and Curaçao. Booming prosperity on the sister islands spread to Bonaire,
and living conditions improved dramatically.
Suddenly, the island had money to spend. Electricity was installed, the
harbor at Kralendijk was rebuilt, and roads all over the island were paved.
Men were given the right to vote in 1936, and Dutch Queen Juliana
granted the island self-rule as an autonomous member of the Netherlands
Antilles within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1954.
Tourism took off in the Netherlands Antilles during the 1960s, and
Bonaire's first hotel opened in 1962, the same year Don Stewart first
sailed his Valerie Queen to the island. Captain Don, a Californian, was
awed by the sea life on the pristine coral reefs surrounding Bonaire and
soon made the island his home. Today, he is known as the father of dive-
tourism on Bonaire and credited with the island's popularity among scuba
enthusiasts.

Official Business

Bonaire and Curaçao are members of the five-island

Netherlands Antilles (NA). Other members are the “S
Islands” - Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. The
Netherlands Antilles is a member of the three-part Kingdom
of the Netherlands. Other members are Aruba and Holland.

Bonaire, the second largest of the NA, is divided into six townships and vil-
lages. The island runs its internal affairs through elected legislative, advi-
sory and executive councils. A lieutenant governor, who is appointed by
the Dutch monarch on the recommendation of local officials, lives in
Kralendijk and oversees local issues. Bonaire elects representatives to
serve in the 22-member staten , or parliament, of the NA, which sends a
minister to The Hague, seat of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.