Bad News from the Netherlands will be offline until next Monday, January 30th.

Most Dutch Municipalities Suffer from Excrement

More than half of Dutch municipalities report that they suffer from dog excrement. Citizens there regularly complain about these problems. The problems are larger in bigger towns than in small communities. This results from research presented on the First National Symposium on Dog Policies. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, dog excrement is the number one irritation in the Netherlands. The number of dogs in the Netherlands is estimated to be around 1.5 million. At the Symposium, a Professor of Veterinary health from Utrecht University will speak. He claims that dog excrement is not only a nuisance, but can also be lethal due to the worms in it.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/11329360/__Praten_over_hondenpoep__.html

Arch Bishop: Roman Catholic Church did not Live up to Norms

The Arch Bishop of Utrecht, Wim Eijk has said to a parliamentary committee that his Church did not live up to its own values. He was heard in view of the Deetman Report, which found that there had been between 10 and 20 thousand victims of sexual abuse in Catholic institutions, of which 1,000 are considered serious cases. The report discussed the ‘culture of silence’ in the Church. The Arch Bishop admitted that the report gave a correct view of the situation and he said that he was ashamed. He added that the Church will have to regain the confidence of the Dutch population.
www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4692/Misbruik-rk-kerk/article/detail/3127437/2012/01/18/Eijk-we-leefden-niet-volgens-onze-eigen-normen.dhtml

Dutch Police have Increasing Problems with their Pistols

Already in 2009, the Dutch Police should have introduced their new pistols. A police lawyer, Ingrid van den Berge said that the present pistols, Walther P5, are not functioning properly in many ways. Modern bullets place too much pressure on these weapons which have to be repaired, often at high cost. In addition, they can only take 8 cartridges, whereas new weapons should have 15. The police lawyer said that if no decision is taken soon, the safety of police agents will be at risk.
www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3123865/2012/01/16/Politie-heeft-steeds-meer-problemen-met-dienstpistool.dhtml

Total Failure of Crisis Communication after Major Fire

When a major fire in the chemical plant of Chemie-Pack broke out in January 2011, the communication system between authorities and residents in its neighborhood totally failed. These results are from a draft report of the Investigation Council for Security. The report mentions as examples of failing services - the non-functioning of telephone information and the crisis website. Data of importance to residents were not officially released. Information provided to the residents was sometimes contradictory. The Council concludes that the communication was severely handicapped as so many authorities were involved.
www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3122496/2012/01/15/Crisiscommunicatie-na-Moerdijkbrand-faalde-volledig.dhtml

Netherlands left Ecological Disaster in Curaçao

The government of Curaçao said that the Netherlands has left an ecological and economic disaster on the island. The Shell company, then still owned partly by the Dutch government, left behind a refinery and an asphalt lake against the payment of a symbolic one guilder. This was said in reply to a threat made by competent Dutch Minister Liesbeth Spies. She wanted a faster reply from the Curaçao government as to its vision of the future of the refinery. Spies has said that she would block a financial program for the island if the vision document wasn’t published soon. The Curaçao government said that the Netherlands has no right to rush Curaçao with this matter in view of what it left behind there.
www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4332/Groen/article/detail/3122140/2012/01/14/Nederland-liet-ecoramp-achter-op-Curacao.dhtml

Government Refuses to Apologize for Wrongdoings of its Wartime Predecessor

In a very formal answer to questions posed by the PVV Freedom Party, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that he sees no reason to apologize for the behavior of the Dutch government in exile in London during World War II toward the persecution of Dutch Jews. He said that no new facts have come to the light about the London government in 2000, when the then- government apologized for the wrongdoings of the postwar Dutch government towards the Jewish community. Rutte suggested in his answer that the Jewish community should have asked for the government to apologize – a rather illogical request. (The Netherlands thus remains the Western European country which has done by far the least to officially admit its role in the persecution of Jews, let alone apologize for it.)
http://m.depers.nl/binnenland/623281/Excuses-Rutte-kiest-makkelijke-weg.html