At the request, Cocari supported the government in the purchase of the Fontein plantation. Our knowledge partners such as Fuhikubo and Monumentegoed as well as the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands have provided valuable advice. On October 4, 2023, the plantation was purchased by the Public Body of Bonaire (OLB). The purchase was partly made possible by a subsidy from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality in the context of the Nature, Environment Policy Plan 2020-2024.
Fontein represents our unique, characteristic and irreplaceable heritage. Both a cultural history and a natural history. The purchase brings the plantation back into the public domain and becomes accessible to all Bonaireans again. ‘The Bonaire, pa boneiru’.
The name Fountain refers to the constant flowing freshwater spring that originates from a large water reservoir beneath the surface of the mountains. A phenomenon that does not occur anywhere else on Bonaire. This freshwater source is also the main reason why this place has always been important to Bonaire and its inhabitants.
In the period of colonization and slavery (1499-1863) literary Fontein became the ‘Landstuin Ten Oosten’. Various cultivation and livestock farming took place here (especially outside the salt harvest season). Historically important events also took place here during this period, namely the only two known slave revolts on Bonaire. The first in 1765 (before the Tula uprising) and later again in 1834 under the leadership of Martis di Katalina Janga.
A few years after the abolition of slavery, Bonaire was sold by the Netherlands and sold to the highest bidder. After all, it was not profitable enough without free workers.
Fountain has always been an important place for the residents of Rincon. Here the villagers fetched water from the well while the other wells around Rincon had dried up. In addition, it was an important place for recreation where families came together on weekends to relax, picnic and swim in the water basins.