The Hague: Investigation of Child Abuse during Qur’an Courses

The Municipal Health Service (GGD) in The Hague has asked the police and the public prosecution to investigate possible child abuse during Qur’an courses in some mosques in the city. In April the Municipal Council accepted a motion to investigate reports of children being beaten during these lessons. In its investigation, a department of the GGD has found 49 indications of such abuse, which shows a pattern. Half of the cases concerned courses given under the auspices of the El Islam Mosque.
www.elsevier.nl/web/Nieuws/Nederland/253411/GGD-wil-onderzoek-mishandeling-tijdens-Koranles.htm

Rights to Firemen Services No Longer Equal for All Citizens

Minister of the Interior Guusje ter Horst (Labor) wants to save money on by canceling the national time limits for firemen to reach the scene of a fire. This will now be set individually by each of the 25 zones in the country. Cees van Beek, chairman of the volunteer firemen’s trade union says that this means that from now on all Dutchmen will not the same rights regarding firemen’s services.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5572930/__Brandweer_langer_onderweg__.html?p=2,1

Public Accounts Committee: Minister of Defense Insufficiently Informed

A new report of the Public Accounts Committee finds that the information the minister of defense receives regarding the preparedness of army units continues to be unreliable. Five of the eight military commanders who were interviewed say that the monthly reports the minister receives give “insufficient insight as to their capability to carry out tasks adequately.” Already in 2006 the Public Accounts Committee had reached a similar conclusion. At the time the ministry promised improvement, which is now also found as insufficient.
www.nrc.nl/binnenland/article2434655.ece/Rekenkamer_info_van_leger_schiet_tekort

Amsterdam Metro: Six Years Delay, 1.7 Billion Euro Overrun

The Commission of Inquiry of the Amsterdam Municipality into the Metro North-South line has concluded that the municipality should have decided against its construction 2002. There was a political desire to push this project ahead and the technical, organizational and financial risks were considered secondary to that. Amsterdam lacked the competence to assess the risks and the project organization lacked experience and authority, while the officials in charge were incompetent. The city management failed to consult experts, nor did they meet their commitments to assess the major nuisance to the population. The cost of the metro will now be 3.1 billion Euro as against 1.4 billion budgeted. The metro is expected to be in operation in 2017, six years later than originally planned.
www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/article1327429.ece/Aanleg_Noord-Zuidlijn_fout_besluit

Aggression against Bus Drivers Unstoppable

There is a long list of towns where bus drivers have initiated actions after suffering aggression, intimidation or robberies in their buses. Last Friday 300 bus drivers of the Veolia Company in Limburg started a spontaneous strike after a number of violent robberies. The trade unions have received hundreds of complaints over the last several months and think that the limits of tolerance have been crossed. Also, almost all the political parties want to find ways to stop the violence. So far, all this hasn’t helped very much.
www.limburger.nl/article/20091211/ANPNIEUWS01/912119984/1176

At Least 6,000 Homeless Minors in the Netherlands

Federatie Opvang says that there are at least 6,000 homeless minors in the Netherlands. This organization, which deals with outreach to the homeless, states that this number concerns only those youngsters which have registered with them. They think that this is only the tip of the iceberg. They add that the Ministry for Youth and Family Affairs is not making progress with plans for how to deal with this problem, and that the number of homeless youngsters is increasing.
www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/5528096/__Opvang_luidt_noodklok_over_zwerfjongeren__.html?p=14,1

Report: Failure of Police in Deadly Beach Riots

The Institute of Safety and Crisis Management (COT) concludes in a new report that the preparations by the police and other various services for the Sunset Groove dance festival on the Hoek van Holland beach on 22 August were a failure. Intelligence information that the hard core of hooligans of the Rotterdam soccer team Feyenoord would disturb the festivities was ignored. As a result the police could only save itself by targeted shooting, killing one person and wounding six. Rotterdam Police Chief Aad Meijboom blamed the hooligans. Neither he nor Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb see a reason to resign.
www.nrc.nl/binnenland/article2433652.ece/Rapport_politie_faalde_volledig_bij_strandrellen?service=Print