Dutch news in brief – 26 January - Expatica Netherlands

Redundant soldiers might transfer to police force

26 January 2004

AMSTERDAM — Dutch soldiers who lose their jobs as part of government budget cuts might be allowed to complete a short training course to swap across to the nation’s police force, Defence Minister Henk Kamp and Interior Minister Johan Remkes have agreed.

The first 250 soldiers could transfer to the police — which is in need of recruits — in Spring, while the next 250 could follow in Autumn. But it must first be decided that the troops cannot be transferred within the military, an NOS news report said.

A total of 12,000 military jobs will be lost, some via natural attrition, in the next few years as the Defence Ministry is forced to reduce its budget. Minister Kamp must save EUR 250 million this year alone and intends to close the military bases at Valkenburg, Twenthe, Soesterberg and Seedorf in Germany.

MPs back disciplinary school proposal

A majority of MPs believe that separate institutions should be set up to deal with problem youth. Education Minister Maria van der Hoeven has proposed that youths who do not break criminal law, but regularly misbehave should be sent to disciplinary boarding schools.

But the minister — who was responding to the shooting death of a teacher in The Hague by a 17-year-old student on 13 January — has warned against haste and will devise a definite plan over the next three months. A disciplinary school already exists in Rotterdam, but has been described as being too non-committal.

Dutch urban population tops rural

The number of people who live in an urban environment in the Netherlands increased by 7 percent in the past five years. New figures from the statistics bureau CBS also indicated that since 2002, a higher number of people live in an urban rather than a rural environment.

Subject: Dutch news