The Northern Times
  • News
  • Lifestyle
  • Culture
  • People
  • What’s happening
  • Economy
  • Opportunities
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Lifestyle
  • Culture
  • People
  • What’s happening
  • Economy
  • Opportunities
No Result
View All Result
The Northern Times
No Result
View All Result

Groningen Seaports under fire for alleged dodgy deals and ‘chum politics’ around lucrative development rights

July 20, 2021
in Uncategorized
Home Uncategorized

Tens of millions of euros of public money may have been improperly spent

Translated by Thomas Ansell

The Netherlands tends to pride itself on transparency, and adherence to international rules, but as with most glossy images, sometimes a story breaks that shatters that façade. Groningen is in the news today with the NOS reporting a number of inconsistencies over the sale of land development rights and the rights build lucrative wind turbines in the North of the Province, with Groningen Seaports right in the firing line.

There are a number of complaints being aired: from accusations that building rights deals were kept in semi-secret and concluded through improper means, through to suggestions that local politicians and civil servants were misled about certain projects and deals. The litany of accusations (as yet only accusations) includes the suggestion that large amounts of public money were unnecessarily spent on cosy contracts with local a local business.

The NOS’s Nieuwsuur suggests that the local building company Bakker Bierum’s deals worth millions of euros for ground preparations and wind turbines were not subject to proper oversight. The dodgy deals were allegedly concluded in 2013.

Deputy IJzebrand Rijzebol of the Province of Groningen was shocked by the news, reports RTV Noord: “yesterday evening, reporting from Nieuwsuur suggested that there was a connection between the acquisition of ground rights, and the acquisition of wind turbines. I am shocked by this, and will immediately look into it.”

Cas Köning, director of Groningen Seaports, says: “in October 2013 there was a complete agreement signed with Bakker Bierum that included both the purchase of the sites and the granting of wind rights. These elements cannot, therefore, be assessed separately from eachother.”

Secret transactions?

It is thought that the transactions were kept from both local and regional government, despite the fact that Groningen Seaports was a company set up by Dutch local government, under the auspices of the Province of Groningen, and Gemeentes Eemsdelta and Het Hogeland, but privatized in 2013.

Whilst there is no proof that the deals were purposefully kept secret, one member of both the Gemeente Eemsdelta and board of directors of Groningen Seaports, Edward Stulp, says: “I’ve been part of this organisation for a while, and I pretended that I have a deep knowledge of Groningen Seaports, but I must unfortunately confirm that I have no knowledge of these documents.”

Image of the Eemshaven by Untitled Photo on Unsplash

Tags: back room dealsEemsdeltaeemshavenGroningenGroningen Seaportsground rightsHet Hogelandno oversightprovince of groningenpublic moneysecretswind turbine rights

Related Posts

Why the north is making waves with water technology
Top Dutch Business

Why the north is making waves with water technology

May 23, 2023
“MENA is here”: Groningen festival celebrates culture of Middle East and North Africa region
Culture

“MENA is here”: Groningen festival celebrates culture of Middle East and North Africa region

May 15, 2023
First of May demonstration – first time in Groningen

First of May demonstration – first time in Groningen

May 2, 2023

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Popular News

  • Father and six children from Ruinerwold lived in basement for years waiting for the end of time

    Father and six children from Ruinerwold lived in basement for years waiting for the end of time

    2851 shares
    Share 1140 Tweet 713
  • Scottish company working on ferry service between Edinburgh and Eemshaven

    1816 shares
    Share 726 Tweet 454
  • German students score rap hit with “Bonnetje Mee”

    1723 shares
    Share 689 Tweet 431
  • Two COVID-19 Coronavirus cases confirmed in Province of Groningen

    1485 shares
    Share 594 Tweet 371
  • Olympic champion Epke Zonderland now a doctor

    1363 shares
    Share 545 Tweet 341
The Northerntimes is powered by: TopDutch

No Result
View All Result
  • Arts
  • Contributors
  • Covid-19 News
  • Covid Chronicles
  • authority
  • personal
  • photo reportage
  • professional
  • Crime
  • Culture
  • Drenthe
  • Dutch history
  • Econ 050
  • Economy
  • Education
  • Eurosonic Noorderslag
  • Friesland
  • Groningen
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Make it in the North
  • National
  • News
  • Nightlife
  • Opinion
  • Opportunities
  • Education
  • People
  • Expats
  • International students
  • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Sports
  • submitted articles
  • Top Dutch Business
  • Travel
  • Typical Dutch
  • Ukraine
  • Uncategorized
  • What’s happening
  • World

Welcome Back!

OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Submit a article

Send in an article to be published on The Northern Times.

Send a news tip

Got a story idea or want us to be aware of anything?