Since you asked...
Theft from rental trucks, along with the advice to leave vehicles unlocked with no valuables inside while diving, has been happening on Bonaire for decades. And for decades people have continued to feed the thieves by locking wallets, cameras, phones, and other valuables in vehicles.
But thieves
have been caught.
Bonaire's prison is full, even after expansion by 36 beds in 2012.
A larger prison with an additional 125 beds is currently under construction and is scheduled to open sometime next year. There's already a queue waiting to get in. In the meantime low-risk offenders are sometimes being released early or not incarcerated at all because there's no room in the prison for them.
What would you have Bonairean authorities do differently,
specifically, to reduce opportunistic crime? Cost of living has increased significantly since governmental changes in October 2010, thus increasing the number of
Bonaireans living in poverty. Bonairean residents and authorities are also coping with an
increase in drug trafficking and addiction which is also related to increasing poverty and has obvious implications towards continued thefts from vehicles and properties etc. Poverty combined with drugs also leads to the the increase in thefts of vehicles and/or their parts. If they can't afford tires or batteries or radios they steal them.
The best way for tourists to deal with this is to leave valuables behind and purchase full insurance coverage for the vehicles. Personally, we've enjoyed 25 weeks on Bonaire over the past 18 years and have only lost a pair of $8 sunglasses to theft. We find the majority of Bonaireans to be warm, friendly, and honest people who are also frustrated victims of similar crimes.
Just curious: Where else in the Caribbean do you think you can temporarily integrate with the local community, travel alone day or night, and leave vehicles unattended while diving with less risk than on Bonaire?
-WWGuy
Counting the days until our next 3 week visit to dushi Bonaire.
