The owner of a Groningen business which was involved in the construction of the wind park along the N33 in Drenthe has become the second person to withdraw from the plans due to threats.
Translation by Traci White
UPDATE: 8:12 a.m., Friday, 5 April
Dagblad van het Noorden reports that Jos Dieterman from Westerlee is the business owner who received the threatening letter, but Dieterman’s company was not directly involved in the wind turbine plans. Dieterman was working with TenneT, which is involved with the electrical grid, and he was not working on the wind turbine park in particular. Nevertheless, Dieterman chose to end his involvement with TenneT following the threat.
Original story follows below
“You have 48 hours to keep your business safe”, the letter read. The Dagblad van het Noorden says that investigators met with the business owner on Wednesday afternoon.
The style of the letter was identical to one sent to Drenthe-based Avitec construction company owner Ben Timmermans last week. The language use, font and lay out were exactly the same, and the message itself was very similar: Timmerman’s was given a week to withdraw from the plans, but the Groningen business owner’s letter only gave him or her 48 hours.
According to Elzo Springer, the spokesperson for De Drentse Monden and Oostermoer, if the goal of the threats is to scare companies away from the plans, they are actually backfiring. “Two new companies have approached us about taking over Avitec’s role in the plans”, Springer says. The first construction works to build the first wind turbine at the park began earlier this week. The police have received eight leads about the letter writers after the case was featuring on the Dutch television show “Opsporing Verzocht”.
Photo source: Drentsemondenoostermoer.nl
