Low Productivity of Officials Wastes Annually 17 Billion Euro Government Money

Due to poor management, the productivity of Dutch officials has declined. It costs the authorities increasingly money to pay for the same amount of work. That results from a report by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. The only field in which there is an increase in productivity is in the care for sick and elderly. If government officials now would work as efficiently as they did in the year 2000 this would save the government annually 17 billion Euro.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3466080/2013/06/27/Slap-werk-ambtenaren-miljardenverspilling.dhtml

Problematic Hospital Put into Bankruptcy

The Ruwaard van Putten Hospital (RPZ) in Spijkenisse has been declared bankrupt by the court in The Hague. The hospital owes 30 million Euro. Minister Schippers had already declared in March that she did not intend to save the hospital from a possible bankruptcy. There were also major medical problems at the hospital. Some heart patients may have died after incorrect diagnoses. At the cardiology department, the number of deaths was higher than the national average. Later it turned out that other departments functioned poorly also. The hospital has been under increased supervision for half a year by the inspectorate of health.

http://nos.nl/artikel/521833-ruwaard-ziekenhuis-failliet.html

Ministry of Security and Justice Invests 100 million Euro into Failing Project

The Ministry of Security and Justice has invested 103 million Euro into a project for automation. This Integrated Process System Criminal Law aims to make the paper files on criminal projects superfluous. Work on this project has taken ten years, and it has cost 4 times as much as budgeted. This results from an internal evaluation by the ministry. At the end of 2011, the project was stopped. Large parts of the project remain unused. The prosecution only uses the system for standard issues such as thefts in shops. The more complex cases, to a large degree, are still being executed on the basis of paper filing.
www.telegraaf.nl/dft/21681084/__80_miljoen_euro_foetsie__.html?view=print

Entire Class of School Knew about Theft of Exams

An entire class of final exam candidates at the Muslim High School Ibn Ghaldoun school in Rotterdam knew about the theft of final exams. The figure now is that in total at that school, 27 types of exams were stolen, copied and sold, also to students in other towns. Twenty students from the school have already admitted that they committed fraud. A judicial investigation of the largest exam fraud in Dutch history is underway. Eight students have so far been arrested, mainly from that school.

www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1012/Nederland/article/detail/3462490/2013/06/20/Heel-6-vwo-Ibn-Ghaldoun-wist-van-examendiefstal.dhtml

Government will Lose 1 Billion Euro on Fyra Train Failure

Manu Lageirse, Director of the Bus and Train Company Veolia Nederland, has said that the Dutch government will lose 1 billion Euro in any case from the Fyra train failure. These trains were operated for one month by the Dutch state railways NS on the high speed line from Amsterdam to Brussels. Thereafter they broke down. Veolia was one of the candidates for the high speed line. Lageirse accused the Deputy Minister Mansveld of Transport of practicing an “ostrich policy” by giving the NS time until October to solve the Fyra problem.
http://m.trouw.nl/tr/m/nl/4492/Nederland/article/detail/3463527/2013/06/22/Veolia-Fyraschade-is-hoe-dan-ook-een-miljard-euro.dhtml?originatingNavigationItemId=4324

Transport Expert: One Hundred Billion Euros Wasted on Infrastructure

Bert van Wee, Professor of Transport Policies at the Technical University of Delft, has calculated the costs to the government due to running over budget and delays of major infrastructure projects. He arrived at the stunning figure of one hundred billion Euros wasted since 1980.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3462724/2013/06/21/100-miljard-euro-verspild-aan-infrastructuur.dhtml

Fifteen School Leaving Exams Stolen at Ibn Ghaldoun school

School Leaving Exams in 15 subjects have been stolen from the safe-deposit of the Islamic school Ibn Ghaldoun in Rotterdam. Deputy Minister of Education Sander Dekker announced this in parliament. All pupils of the school have to redo their exams in these subjects. Arie Slob, party leader of the Christian Union said that this concerns the greatest theft ever in Dutch history of school leaving exams. Parliamentarian Harm Beertema of the Freedom Party said that the school should be closed as soon as possible.

http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3456841/2013/06/11/In-totaal-15-examens-gestolen-op-Ibn-Ghaldoun.dhtml

State Taken to Court because of Illegal Support of Dutch Railways

The Traveler’s Organization for a Better Public Transportation is taking the Dutch government to the European Court because of illegal support for the Dutch Railways. The transport companies Veolia and Arriva/Deutsche Bahn are thinking about joining the complaint. The Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Wilma Mansfeld has asked lawyers to investigate whether indeed there has been state support for the Dutch Railways. An answer is expected by the 1st of October 2013.

www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/21633126/__Staat_gedaagd_om_NS__.html

Smoking Inspectors Afraid of Getting Attacked

Smoking Inspectors from the Dutch Food and Commodities Authority (NVWA) no longer dare to control the smoking prohibition in hotels and cafes alone, out of fear of being attacked by café owners and clientele. From now on, the inspectors will only control in pairs and with police assistance, says the NVWA. The Parliament considers this unacceptable and asks the government to intervene.
www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3449322/2013/05/30/Rookinspecteurs-durven-in-hun-eentje-het-cafe-niet-meer-in.dhtml

Childrens’ Ombudsman Criticizes Immigration Service

The Childrens’ Ombudsman, Marc Dullaert said that 3,910 children who wanted to follow their parents who fled to the Netherlands between 2008 and 2011, must get a second chance. The risk that they were rejected unreasonably is “unacceptably high.” He concluded that “the rights of the children have been trampled upon in a serious way.”

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3453402/2013/06/05/Kinderombudsman-oordeelt-hard-over-onzorgvuldige-handelwijze-IND.dhtml

Five Thousand Caretakers Demonstrate against Budget Cuts

A demonstration in Amsterdam against budget cuts for caretakers has drawn 5,000 protesters. This was announced by the organizing trade union ABVKABO FNV. According to the trade union, 170 people will lose their home care and 50,000 home caretakers will lose their jobs. Furthermore, tens of thousands of employees caring for the handicapped and in nursing homes will lose their jobs.

http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/21633578/__Protest_tegen_kaalslag__.html

Government Backs Dutch Railways Decision to Abandon High Speed Train

The government agrees with the opinion of the Dutch Railways to stop the high speed service of the Fyra train. This was said by Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Wilma Mansveld. She said that the Dutch Railways in the meantime had paid 120 million Euro for the abandoned trains and she was not sure whether that money could be recouped. She also couldn’t say whether the legal position of the Dutch Railways in this matter was strong.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3454572/2013/06/07/Kabinet-steunt-besluit-NS-te-stoppen-met-de-Fyra.dhtml

Thirty-Nine Percent of Dutchmen Want to Leave the E.U.

Thirty-nine percent of the Dutch population has said that they would support leaving the European Union if there were a referendum on this question. The same percentage is in favor of remaining in the E.U. This results from a poll by Gallup Europe, based on interviewing 1,500 Dutchmen. A similar number of Danes, Frenchmen, Germans, Poles and Brits were interviewed. Only in the U.K. was there a majority for leaving the E.U. – 55%.

www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2013/06/anti-eu_sentiment_grows_39_of.php

Dutch Railways will Abandon High Speed Train

The Dutch Railways announced that they will abandon the

high speed Fyra trains. After a short period of operation, too many problems were discovered and the service was stopped. After testing, it now turns out that the quality of finishing the trains was insufficient. Each train had been finished in a different way. The expected life of a train contractually defined as 30 years, will be much shorter due to wear and tear. There has already been corrosion with the new trains. And a low tension installation has been poorly designed. Also, during the testing, there were incidents with bad batteries. The conclusion of the Dutch Railways is that even an extensive recovery program and preventive maintenance could not assure proper functioning of the trains. Full operation of the trains, in the best case, is not guaranteed before 2018.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3451969/2013/06/03/Nederlandse-Spoorwegen-stoppen-per-direct-met-Fyra.dhtml

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Kuwait Now Controls Mosque in Amsterdam

Kuwait has taken power in the Blue Mosque of the Slotervaart neighborhood in Amsterdam. The Chairman of the trust which operates the mosque is now Mutlaq Alqarawi. He is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and is an Assistant Under-Secretary in the Kuwaiti government. In a recent meeting, Alqarawi promoted missionary activity to convert people in the Netherlands. He added that the community should be devoted to “Dawah.”

www.parool.nl/parool/nl/224/BINNENLAND/article/detail/3447180/2013/05/25/Koeweit-aan-de-macht-in-buurtmoskee-Slotervaart.dhtml

One-Legged Soccer Players International Match Stopped due to Massive Violence

The first international match between one-legged soccer players from Belgium and the Netherlands had to be stopped in the middle. At one point the players started beating each other up. Thereafter, spectators also participated in the fight and complete chaos resulted at the stadium of Westerlo in Belgium.

www.powned.tv/nieuws/sport/2013/06/eenbenige_voetballers_op_de_vu.html

Police Arrive too Late in Response to Emergency Calls in 174 Municipalities

The police have published that policemen in 174 municipalities often take too long to respond to emergency calls. The norm is that police have to arrive within a quarter of an hour after receiving emergency calls in 90% of cases. Deputy Minister Teeven, Security and Justice promised last year that this standard would be met everywhere in the country. Yet, in 40 municipalities, the police arrived too late in more than 20% of the cases. The police state that on a national basis, in 92.4% of emergency cases, they arrived within a quarter of an hour. Yet in three regions, the norms were not met.
www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3451079/2013/06/01/Politie-komt-in-174-gemeenten-te-vaak-te-laat.dhtml

Deputy Minister Harshly Threatened

Deputy Minister of Security and Justice Fred Teeven, (Liberals) has been harshly threatened. The threats are most probably from pro-asylum activists and have increased since the death of Russian asylum seeker Alexandr Dolmatov and the discussion about the criminality of those who are in the Netherlands illegally. Teeven is being personally guarded and there is also increased security at his house in Amsterdam.

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/11698/Kabinet-Rutte-II/article/detail/3452275/2013/06/04/Staatssecretaris-Teeven-ernstig-bedreigd.dhtml

Hate Graffiti on Home of Director of Immigration Authority

Hate graffiti was sprayed on the home of the Director of the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Office (IND), Rob van Lint. The graffiti said that “IND = Murder.” The action group which claims responsibility for this, said in an open letter to Van Lint that he will not rest as long as he remains Director of this office. Deputy Minister of Security and Justice, Fred Teeven expressed his horror at this intimidating action. He considers it a severe attack on the private sphere of an official who does his work. The police are investigating.
www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3451298/2013/06/02/Huis-IND-directeur-beklad.dhtml

Journalist: Dutch Marines Executed Train Hijackers in 1977

A new study by freelance journalist Jan Bekkers came to radically diverse conclusions from the official version about the death of South Moluccan hijackers who commandeered a Dutch train near De Punt on 11 June 1977. This official version claims that all killed hijackers died in the fire on the train which preceded the soldiers’ attack. Bekkers says that 3 or possibly 4 hijackers were still living and were executed without trial by the Marines. He also claims that hostage Rien van Baarsel was not killed by a hijacker’s weapon, but was hit by Marine fire. 

www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2686/Binnenland/article/detail/3450943/2013/06/01/Treinkapers-De-Punt-werden-geliquideerd.dhtml