Letter from Reef Guardians Saba:
Dear Editor,
Having read the tragic article in last weeks Herald about the young female diver dying in Curacao and the followup article on the reopening of the hyperbaric chamber at Curacao’s hospital reminded me that it has been over a year since the board of directors of The Saba Marine Park decided to close Saba’s chamber at Fort Bay.
This decision was made to my knowledge without consulting the medical community, the population of Saba,the scuba operators or the local government. A hyperbaric chamber is a vital piece of equipment in treating scuba injuries such as Dcs or Dci it is now also used in treating many non diving medical issues as well.
Saba is known amongst the scuba community as one of the top deeper diving destinations in the Caribbean which unfortunately also brings higher risks of injuries, when a dive accident happens prompt hyperbaric treatment is essential.
The decision to close our chamber raises several other issues, for an extended period of time as part of a visiting diver’s marine park fees some went towards the chamber operation and seeing as our chamber was nonoperational was The Saba Marine Park charging for a service they could not provide,this would be fraud and is punishable by law.The money that was collected over that time where did it go?
Photo Chuck Sibley
First and foremost it’s imperative to get the hyperbaric chamber at Fort Bay operational again, it’s also time the island prosecutor launched an investigation as to whether fraud and or embezzlement took place by The Saba Marine Park and file charges if warranted, if the scuba diving world found out diver’s were billed for an important service that was not available, the dive tourism on this island could face devastating consequences.
Reef Guardians Saba (18)
I agree that it is getting urgent that this very bad situation is discussed in the open. Even today Saba Divers is advertising on their website that diving on Saba is safe. They write:
Diving is safe on Saba, especially with us, but should you suffer or fear you are suffering from the bends there is a DAN certified hyperbaric facility at the harbor, many people on the island are at hand to monitor and treat you.
It seems that that the Conservation Foundation has collected some $ 80 000 from the divers, but it is unclear if this money has ever been spend on the maintenance of the hyperbaric chamber.
Experts say that some $40 000 would be needed to bring the chamber back into a working state.
The Government have received a letter from the University that their chamber may not be used for treating patients due to legal limitations. The Saba Health Care Foundation is aware of the problem. It seems that they assume that diving accidents are none of their business.
It is clear that, when the diving world realizes that there is no working chamber on Saba, this may have a significant impact on our tourism income.
Who takes initiative?
I hope this discussion will move something at the SCF. We fought quite a while to explain the importance of the chamber for Saba but with minor results. Concerning the money: I have seen some profit & loss sheets but it didn’t enlighten me and I had the feeling some money directed to the chamber was used to pay other “bills”, sometimes from years before they even collected the money, which struck me as kind of strange. If someone wants to look into that, he or she should do it; I guess that is public record. I’m not an accountant. It’s not even clear to me how they elect a board in the first place. I don’t think they have bad intentions but sometimes in the process it’s a little bit murky. I agree they should be more open with the public.
For the so-called advertisement on our page: sorry but we didn’t look up the page for a while in this specific section. It’s posted under “FAQ” and this page wasn’t changed for some time and we were not even aware that the posting was still there. Sorry that we overlooked this. We have changed it now to:
Q.
Is diving safe on Saba?
A.
Yes, diving is very safe on Saba, especially when following all the rules and regulations of a good dive operation and “the way you have learned to dive”. All of Saba’s dive operators provide first class diving and are committed to safety first. Saba’s own recompression chamber is unfortunately temporarily out of order and we still hope for a solution to get it fixed. For status updates on the chamber please contact the Saba Marine Park.
By the way: Saba Divers never had used the chamber in 12 years for any serious dive accident since we provide first class safety and to prevent dive accidents in the first place by preparing ourselves and the customers for a safe dive, which is monitored and executed during the dives. Nevertheless we appreciate a working chamber on Saba, which was promised to us by the former Marina Park manager Jan van den Dulk, when the 1UD dollar extra fee per dive was set up. The promise was: if you pay this dollar we guarantee you 24/7 service in the chamber. This was never the case or at least only for a short time, before the chamber was closed.
All this is quite negative for the image of Saba and for the tourist sector. When and how and by whom can this problem be solved?
The lack of any reponse from the SCF is just a reflection of the arrogance of the board and management, if they think this will just dry up and blow away they are badly mistaken.
As noted by Wolfgang they will likely show some fancy accounting to show they used the money in an appropriate manner, we don’t buy it.
They can’t justify charging a fee for a service they knew they couldn’t provide, we have been told they would likely still be charging it had the dive operators not stopped it.
At some point the executive council will have to become involved and an investigation started.
They have embarrassed the very institution they represent, the island as well as the people of Saba.
This board must resign now!
According my information the chamber was still functioning in May 2009. What happened?
What are the specifics regarding the chamber. Is it a matter of maintenance or parts? We have many people skilled, what do we do to actually fix it. I’ve spent many hours chipping paint and turning wrenches. Love to help when I’m back on island.
Dan
Dear Dan Schneider, By a company it has been called “a necessary update” and they offered to do that for $ 46,000 or so. With skilled people as volunteers and maybe with some new parts it is likely that it would cost far less. You wrote: “We have many people skilled”. Did you mean by this: people that you know and who are on Saba? And when will you be back yourself?
The SCF has never approached or looked into available resourses on the island to our knowledge, they just want it gone as has been noted by others.
The chamber possibly should be a foundation on it’s own, and if money is missing to start the process the SCF should come good for every penny of it.
We are getting frustrated with the lack of interest by the government, an accident would look very bad on the island right now.
Dear Dan, if you have any knowledge or skills that can help to bring the chamber back to operation you should contact one of the dive centers so we can set up a meeting and see if we can work together on a solution. Thank you for the offer.
For the Reef Guardians: didn’t I tell you nothing will happen by itself? You should not expect others to do your job. If you want it so badly step up and go the distance yourself. It’s not a matter of us to “not paying the fees” since there are others involved who have to make the same decision and also not very constructive. I appriciate your concerns and your efforts but you have to do something yourself and bring it to the next level.
We are working from our side on a solution but can’t do it all alone.