Be careful in Bonaire (Burglaries)

[Reef Tank]

I'm way more scared of the truck rental companies taking me than I am of the burglars.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

You see, whenever anyone wants to discuss real, personal dismay and reluctance, they are told that it's great that they are not going to be in the way of those who will still go. Some island fans make it impossible to have objective discussions here. There are possibly others not logged in who are reading this thread thinking "I am not going to register and ask questions about my concerns then have to put up with those people."

Deadbolts pried from door frames, safes breached, and some want to scream that it's only a petty crime problem - no biggie. "I just got hit for about 6k, no insurance."

Oh, and I am labeled anti-island too. So those who want to discuss the real problems withou absurd ridicule are having to resort to PMs and emails to avoid the riff raff here. Sad.

DD, this was not the case at the beginning of this thread.

That response has become more common now because of [-]some[/-] [-]many[/-] an over the top number of unsubstaciated posts concerning how much crime is escalating on Bonaire. When asked to substaciate the claim that crime continues to escalate, that person continues to claim those who ask for proof are asking to "prove a negative", or they are just nay sayers attempting to protect their beloved dive island and are denying crime or complacent on crime.

No one here has denied crime on Bonaire, or that Bonaire has a crime problem. Many of us have listed "common sense" things to do in order to lessen the chances of being a victim. These do not completely stop crime, but they help reduce crime anywhere in the world.

As far as criminals breaking in and burgalerizing locations, and especially being so bold as to do it while residents are sleeping... That IS UNACCEPTABLE, by anyone's standards, but it does happen all over the world (do NOT read that statement as complacency, it is NOT! It is a statement of FACT!). No one on this thread except Liz and other people who own property, or live on Bonaire can answer what the police are doing about this horrible situation. It is very unfortunate that some on this thread completely discount anything stated by those people as rumor not to be believed.

Some on this thread have claimed that resort owners, property owners, the people that live on Bonaire who have made statements concerning what police and government are doing to thwart and capture these criminals, are spouting rumor for their own gain. Some have made this statement so many times that those with any information... resort owners, property owners and the people who live on Bonaire will no longer take place in this discussion. To me, that is truly a travesty! Those who could offer input have been pushed away from the discussion by a small minority via bully techniques.

Those same bully techniques have led to numerous pages of drivel in between real discussion, and have led to people who held real discussion at the beginning of this thread taking on the "it's only petty crime" attitude. This, to me is a true travesty of what could have been a good discussion of the issues and dialogue with those who are in the know (property owners, resort owners and people who live on Bonaire)

As far as you being labelled anti-island, I don't know where that came from

 

[Docc]

just go dive and see what's left in your room when you get back...?

I did. Everything was still in my room. Everything was in my truck. No problems whatsoever.

But you people keep on with your Bonaire bashing and warnings and it'll be easier for the rest of us to find parking at Hilma, 1000 steps, and Oil Slick.

 

[jbtut]

Usually the way it works is when tourism is a countries major GNP, the infrastructure of the island functions as a result of the taxes levied on tourism directly and the fees and taxes levied indirectly on the islands population who gain their income directly from tourism.

When tourism declines the local governments coffers get reduced directly from the direct taxes and indirectly from the indirect taxes and fees on the the locals who stop spending money they don't have. Infrastructure begins to suffer, services begin to be cut. The locals cry out and demand the government does something. The government analyzes the problem and determines tourist visits are down and they must do something about it. They finally figure out it's a perception issue, in this case it's a perception of crime and safety. They finally work to alleviate the crime issue, they may then spend money on marketing the island to get over the bad image and try to return the island visits to normal.

The path to the resolution can come quicker if the local businesses band together and approach their government to inform them of the problem and make them aware of it and demand change so it never has to get as bad as it will.

What surprises me most is the general apathy toward the whole thing. At All West they had installed security cameras and lights which is a step in the right direction. It also seemed like they honestly cared about it. But many responses on here seem to take the position that "its an island so theft is ok". That's exceedingly short sighted. When my banks says "that's on our bad list" I'm going to notice. It's costing real money right now. And a lot of it. Maybe the resorts don't realize it, but travelers are taking crime into account already and discounting the rate they are willing to pay to travel to the Bonaire and Curacao.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

What surprises me most is the general apathy toward the whole thing. At All West they had installed security cameras and lights which is a step in the right direction. It also seemed like they honestly cared about it. But many responses on here seem to take the position that "its an island so theft is ok". That's exceedingly short sighted. When my banks says "that's on our bad list" I'm going to notice. It's costing real money right now. And a lot of it. Maybe the resorts don't realize it, but travelers are taking crime into account already and discounting the rate they are willing to pay to travel to the Bonaire and Curacao.

Please see post 237, thanks.

 

[DandyDon]

When my banks says "that's on our bad list" I'm going to notice.

They did?! :shocked2:

Did they explain that?

 

[ScubaSteve]

....many responses on here seem to take the position that "its an island so theft is ok"......

Link for us to just one post saying this. After all, we all want to believe you and you obviously can support this claim. Just one saying that theft is OK.

 

[ncchuck]

I wonder how many people taking part in this discussion ever bother to look at other sources of information and I don't mean other forums. Take some time and do google searches for various terms relating to Bonaire, theft, petty crime, tourism etc. There are articles from local newspapers talking about crime. The tourism agency itself sometimes weighs in with news articles. It appears that one of these papers may have even been driven out of business for attempting to report some of the problems.
I'm not sure why people are so passionate on both sides of these issues but neither side is winning.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

They did?! :shocked2:

Did they explain that?

DD, I think that was a general statement example... I don't think he was say that the bank put Bonaire on their "bad list"... But, I could be mistaken... Let's see his response....

 

[jbtut]

They did?! :shocked2:

Did they explain that?

Yes, they suspended my debit card after the first transaction on Curacao. My wife called her mother who happens to be an accountant for the local branch and she said Curacao was on their "bad list". Suspension was automatic and she was able to lift it. They also charg a fee on every transaction which was effectively insurance because of credit fraud risk. I don't know how they calculate it, but it must be a base fee plus a percentage of purchase prices because higher value charges were more, but not directly proportional to amount. I think they were usually around $2-3 dollars per charge. It was similar in Indonesia. However, they do not automatically suspend use in Indonesia, which seems to indicate that Curacao is considered higher risk.