While visiting St. Eustatius, the caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation of the Netherlands, Maxime Verhagen, was given a tour of one of the island's assets: the monuments of historical Oranjestad. The island markets itself as "The Historical Gem of the Caribbean" so it was an opportunity for the Minister and his party including Kingdom Representative Wilbert Stolte to see what that is based on. The Director of the St. Eustatius Monuments Foundation, Walter Hellebrand, was their guide, showing them Oranjestad's monuments and using them as illustrations to walk them through the island's history at the same time.
Oranjestad was recently listed as one of the top eight towns to visit in the Caribbean by Lonely Planet, the largest travel guide book and digital media publisher in the world. It was the charm of the town's historical atmosphere that motivated the author of the list. Preserving and restoring what makes up this appeal is the mission of the Monuments Foundation. One of the questions that were raised by the visiting party was about the issue of undivided property since that creates eye sores that spoil the effect of the restored buildings around them.
The Monuments Director also showed the Minister and his delegation one of the first Statia monuments to be restored with a soft loan from the National Restoration Fund.
