Dutch news in brief – 22 January

Connexxion fined for bus driver death

AMSTERDAM — After the December death of a bus driver wedged fast in a sliding bus door, the Labour Inspectorate has imposed a fine on bus company Connexxion. The authority ruled that it is not acceptable to have bus doors under pressure while drivers lock up their vehicles. The doors automatically close when a bus is switched off and drivers were not sufficiently aware of the problem. Connexxion will now make technical adjustments to about 200 buses.

Local taxes to rise by 4.4pc

Municipal costs such as real estate rates, garbage collection and sewage charges will rise 4.4 percent in 2004 compared with a 7 percent rise last year, research bureau Coelo revealed. Renters will pay on average EUR 489, but after the deduction of the so-called “Zalmsnip” reduction, they will be required to pay an average of EUR 447.

Fears over Dutch hiker’s safety

Belgian police are searching for a Dutchman missing near Malmedy, in the Ardenne ranges. Raoul Vanderdonck, 40, of Schin op Geul in Limburg, did not return from a hike on Monday and there are fears for his safety. There is a heavy layer of snow in the hilly terrain and temperatures often fall below zero degrees Celsius at night.

‘New’ Van Gogh letter expresses condolence

A recently-discovered Van Gogh letter unveiled by the Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum on Thursday was a condolence message dated 3 August 1877 and was addressed to well-known Amsterdam art dealer H. Tersteeg, who had just lost a daughter. The famous Dutch painter describes in the letter how his father mourned the loss of one of his sons in 1852, a year before Vincent was born. It is the first Van Gogh letter to be discovered since 1990. 

[Copyright Expatica News 2004]

Subject: Dutch news