The residents of Halsteren and the political parties in the municipality of Bergen op Zoom are very concerned about safety after two violent TBS patients managed to escape from the mental health clinic on the Vrederust Estate. The police, the judiciary and the Mental Health Service are investigating, but the answers will have to wait a while. And in the meantime, some residents no longer dare to go out into the streets at night. “It is intense that you can no longer simply walk in your municipality without the risk of being murdered,” says Arjan der Weegen, party leader of GBWP.
“I don’t go out in the evening anymore,” says an anxious woman from Halsteren. She was very shocked by the fact that two TBS patients escaped from the mental health institution on the Vrederust Estate in one week. “If they cannot guarantee safety, I think that institution should leave,” she says.
She is not the only one who is shocked, that applies to the entire congregation. Also for the mayor and Bergen politicians. “I understand that there are many questions in society. I have them too,” Mayor Margo Mulder wrote in a response. But she has no answers.
And therein lies the sore point for many residents of the municipality. Also with Arjan van der Weegen, who is the party leader of the largest party GBWP and also a resident of Halsteren. “We need to hear from the media what is going on,” he says. “It’s very alive, it is talk of the town. So, in my opinion, the conversation could be a bit more open.” If that doesn’t happen, he is afraid that Indian stories will emerge that will only increase the unrest.
“It is intense that you can no longer simply walk in your community without the risk of being murdered.”
“It is intense that you can no longer simply walk in your municipality without the risk of being murdered,” the party leader continues. In doing so, he expresses the fear that weighs on the stomach of many residents. “You’re scared every day, it seems like daily prices. And I’m especially concerned that safety doesn’t seem to be in order.”
So far there have been no reassuring words from the mayor about this. “A thorough investigation is currently taking place into how this could have happened and into the security measures,” says Mayor Mulder. As long as the investigation is still ongoing, that is the only thing the mayor can share.
“I think she will wait a little longer,” says CDA faction leader Jaap van Dam. “I think that’s a shame. Residents now have questions and a feeling of insecurity and they are not getting answers to their questions. And the management of the mental health institution could also say more to make residents feel safer. Because what is happening now happened is really not possible.”