The Emmen city council is not happy with the state of affairs regarding the shuttle bus between Emmen and Ter Apel that asylum seekers could use ‘free’. The parties express incomprehension and criticize, among other things, the usefulness of the action and what they consider to be inadequate communication. But according to Mayor Eric van Oosterhout, free transport has never been the starting point.
Last week it was announced that the shuttle bus between the Emmen station area and the asylum seeker center in Ter Apel would be free. The measure was introduced in 2019 to combat nuisance caused by asylum seekers on regular lines. Last week, reports emerged about a pilot that gave the impression that this service could be used for free. In addition to unrest, this also caused a lot of uncertainty.
This week, the Minister of Asylum and Migration, Mona Keijzer (BBB), announced during a working visit (and later by letter) to Westerwolde that she wanted to put an end to this.
While the rides were still provided for free the next day. In addition to that confusion, several parties had little understanding for the original decision.
VVD faction leader Patrick de Jonge points to conflicting signals. “In the same week, Arriva tightens controls on the train, while bus transport is made free.”
The VVD wonders how the mayor was informed of the decision of the municipality of Westerwolde and why the municipal council was not further informed about it. “Discussions about safety around the station have been going on for a long time. Then you cannot let such a decision pass without taking the council along,” says De Jonge.
Wakker Emmen, through councilor René van der Weide, also called it ‘the world upside down’. According to the party, safelanders in particular cause the persistent nuisance in public transport. “Then it is incomprehensible that this behavior is rewarded with free transport,” says Van der Weide.
The party points out the confusion caused by conflicting reporting. “Sometimes it is free, other times it is not. Then as a municipal council you want to know: who decided this and at what level,” Van der Weide asks.
Wakker Emmen also wants clarity about the role of the municipality of Emmen. According to the party, the communication suggests that the decision has been coordinated with the municipality. “With such a sensitive subject, you can expect that the municipality is not only mentioned, but is actually involved in the communication,” says Van der Weide.
Klaas Bosma from Hart voor Emmen criticized the contradictory communication and was curious who bore the administrative responsibility in this scenario.
Mayor Eric van Oosterhout indicates that free transport was never the starting point of the consultation that took place on December 8 between the municipalities of Westerwolde, Emmen, the government, transporter Qbuzz and other authorities. The emphasis was mainly on whether transport costs for asylum seekers could be arranged in another way. According to him, it was an exploratory conversation and hard decisions would follow later.
Moreover, according to the mayor, Emmen had no active role in this story: “The shuttle bus is financed by the government and the municipality of Westerwolde is the executive party. Emmen is a boarding location in this story, where there are safety problems.” So the ball was actually in the court of these parties, he says. Emmen has deployed extra security in the station area, Van Oosterhout explains.
Due to Emmen’s limited role, there was no feedback with the council. Van Oosterhout about this: “It would have been good to provide an explanation a little faster. The commotion was great and the word ‘free’ was like a red rag to a bull.” According to Van der Weide, Emmen could have stepped up their game: “Why didn’t the municipality issue a statement with more clarification on Monday or at the weekend?”
According to Van Oosterhout, the responsibility for the faltering communication lies with Qbuzz and the municipality of Westerwolde. They were in charge in this story. “But although we were not a party in that respect, we could have given more hands on it ourselves,” he acknowledges.
Qbuzz does not agree with Van Oosterhout about the faltering communication. The organization states that they have no control over this story and that there is no communication breakdown on their part.