The residents of Moerdijk can hardly comprehend the news. On Tuesday they were told that their village is going to disappear. The news has yet to sink in on Wednesday and grieving residents are wondering what the future will bring. In many places the flag is flown at half-mast. “I have all my memories here. They will all be gone soon.”
Wim Hollemans (47) has lived in Moerdijk all his life. He was born and raised there, and lives with his daughter in the house where he previously lived with his parents. On Wednesday he could not really comprehend what was announced by the municipality on Tuesday evening: that his village would disappear completely and make way for industrial expansion.
“Soon there will simply be nothing left.”
“I barely slept. I didn’t know it would have such an impact on me. It’s really sad,” says Hollemans. “I was just walking with my dog across the harbor, looking out, and thought: I have all my memories here. And they will all be gone soon. There will soon be nothing left,” mourns the 47-year-old Moerdijker.
Hollemans’ father is 73 and also lives in Moerdijk. His mother died two months ago and is buried in the Catholic cemetery in the village.
“I just picked out a stone for my deceased mother’s grave. She was ill. She wanted our dad to lie there too. What will happen to that grave now?” Hollemans wonders. “We buried her. Together they (his parents, ed.) also had a son, but he only lived five days. He was a year and a month older than me. He is also there. How can you dig up such a grave?”
I don’t want to leave here at all. I enjoy living here.”
Hollemans, like other grieving residents of Moerdijk, hangs the flag at half-mast at his house. “A piece of the past is being taken from you here. I was born in this house and have lived in my parental home for 47 years. I bought it from my father and I don’t want to leave here at all. I live here wonderfully. The people here are not angry, they are resigned. We are still groping in the dark. How are we compensated?”
The former minister already argued for the closure of Moerdijk in 2013
Ed Nijpels, former Minister of Housing, chaired a committee in 2013 that discussed the future of Moerdijk. Twelve years ago it was already advised that the village should make way for industry. “The province was not in favor at first, it would cost a lot of money. When the scheme was introduced, it turned out that not many people actually left at all,” says Nijpels.
“I also warned at the time: ‘Remember, developments are continuing. And sooner or later you as a province and municipality will be faced with a choice whether you want to continue with this village, but be honest with the residents.’ The province and the national government now have to make a difficult choice and generously accommodate those residents and provide them with certainty in a new home.”
Moerdijk 2.0
Another option according to Nijpels is that a completely new Moerdijk 2.0 is created from the ground. “If they want, the province can make room and build a new village in the area. It involves five hundred houses. You have ten years. Get started, together with the residents, they are experiencing the misery.”