Geert Wilders (PVV) will come to Moerdijk on Friday at his own request to talk to residents about the plans that will make the village disappear. The place where he joins is the house and family business of fishmonger Jaco Koman. For him, the political attention is welcome, but his concern remains the same: the future of his family business is at stake: “I hope there will be generations to come after me.”
Anyone who enters Koman’s Vishandel will see a cozy shop on the quay in Moerdijk. But behind the counter lies a gigantic fishing company with much more business than you might think at first glance. A lot of the fish you see isn’t even intended for the store itself.
“We sell a large part to hotels and restaurants throughout the Netherlands and Belgium,” says Jaco. He also trades in live fish, mainly eel. “We sell them on to smokehouses in the Netherlands, but also abroad.”
A family business
The fish trading company has been in the harbor of Moerdijk for fifty years and is completely intertwined with the family. “My grandmother already worked here and now my father, brother, eldest two children and I. We all have to do it together.” The place feels irreplaceable to Jaco and his family: “Fish is our life.”
The fact that his village has to disappear affects him deeply. The extent of the loss is visible when Jaco walks through the production halls. “Yes, this should all go,” he says as he walks past the cold rooms and smoke box. And that bothers him. “I go to bed with it at night and wake up with it again.”
What would he want?
Jaco has his own ideas about where the industry that Moerdijk is giving way to can better go. “Go look elsewhere for a good location. Go to a Maasvlakte or make another Maasvlakte,” he says.
According to him, this would not only be in the interest of the residents of the village of Moerdijk, but also for the residents of surrounding villages. “They will also suffer from this.”
Jaco remains combative
He sees the arrival of Wilders mainly as an opportunity to make it clear what is at stake. “I am happy with all the attention. What is happening now to this village can also happen to other villages in the Netherlands,” he says.
And as long as no bullet has passed through the village, Jaco remains combative. “As long as nothing has happened, we will continue to fight for it.”
Here you can read all the stories about the disappearance of the village of Moerdijk.