Cracks in the walls of his house. It is the reality of Jan Klinkenberg (73) from Een. According to him, it is due to the gas storage in Norg. He has been fighting “against injustice” for years, because according to NAM, the company behind the gas storage, the damage would not come from there. It inspired son Wouter Klinkenberg to make a documentary about his story: Unruly.
“For years I saw how my father was quite irritated about this problem with the gas storage. How it was really eating him away,” says Wouter Klinkenberg. “An important question that the documentary must answer is: ‘What is a home when your house is crumbling so much and when you feel unsafe or start to feel unsafe?’
Jan Klinkenberg has lived in his farm in the village of Een for 45 years. He renovated it piece by piece, as soon as the money became available. His children grew up in the house, including Wouter. A nice place to live, but the fun has increasingly disappeared over the last fifteen years. The damage to his house, the cracks in the walls, it is not recognized as earthquake damage.
But Klinkenberg refuses to give up. “I can’t stand injustice very well. That’s where the militancy comes from. Just the feeling that you haven’t accepted everything and have let people walk all over you, that is the motivation.”
Son Wouter has called the documentary Unruly. A name or characterization that suits his father, not just because the word crack appears in it. “It’s a bit of stubbornness, stubbornness. I recognize that in myself,” Klinkenberg senior laughs.
The goal of the film is to be inspiring for people in a similar situation. Wouter: “If you are being wronged, take action, do something. Hopefully people will be inspired that you can actually do something, because it is thanks to people like my father that there is also light at the end of the tunnel.”
In addition, his father hopes that more attention will be paid to the damage that he believes is caused by the gas storage. And although the documentary is finished, the cracks remain the reality. “I have already given up the house, I only take emergency measures. That is healthier,” says Jan Klinkenberg.
The documentary Weerbarstig can be seen on February 8 at RTV Drenthe.