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Godett arrives in Amsterdam for legal talks
The leader of the Antillean FOL political party, Anthony Godett, arrived at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on Friday to discuss with his lawyer a forthcoming appeal against a corruption conviction. Godett was convicted on appeal and jailed for 15 months — five of which were suspended — earlier this month in the Willemstad Court on charges of fraud, forgery and the taking of bribes. But he is appealing for cassation in the Dutch Supreme Court. The Antillean Prime Minister-elect was unable to take up his position last year due to the corruption charges and has spent ANG 150,000 (EUR 70,000) on his legal defence. He is welcoming monetary donations from Antillean and Dutch civilians.
Dutch launch new warning system
The Dutch government plans to introduce a new system to warn citizens via their mobile phones in times of national emergencies. The system will be used by the Interior Ministry, but the Agriculture and Health ministries are also considering using the system in case of epidemics, Radio Netherlands reported. The “cell-broadcast system” can send millions of text messages to all mobile phones in a particular region and will become operational in the autumn.
Social security complaints double
The number of complaints lodged with social security authority UWV from benefits recipients doubled in the 1999 to 2003 period, former justice minister Winnie Sorgdrager claimed in research released on Friday. Compared with 66,000 annual complaints, there are now 121,000 complaints lodged each year. The UWV supplies 960,000 people with a partial WAO worker disability pension and 290,000 people with WW unemployment benefits.
The Hague goes African – zebra crossing style
A 21-year-old resident of The Hague appointed himself to the position of road worker on Thursday night, painting a new — but illegal — zebra crossing on the Groot Hertoginnelaan with a white spray paint can. But the zebra crossing was not your average crossing — it depicted zebras actually crossing the road. But police were not amused and arrested the man and issued him with a ticket, newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reported. The man claimed in his defence that a zebra crossing was highly needed at the scene of his artwork.
[Copyright Expatica News 2004]
Subject: Dutch news