In an already uncertain time for camping Ot en Sien in Roden, the board of the Buitenrust foundation has to look for new managers. In August last year, the old administrators were dismissed after possible fraud was discovered.
The new board of the Buitenrust foundation – which is responsible for the campsite – has filed a report after suspicions of fraud arose. Board member Jacquelien Hartkamp says that the foundation’s treasurer found out that there were people at the campsite that he had no knowledge of.
The income from shower tokens would also be too low. “We received two hundred euros from the administrators for an entire season, while after a week we were already at one hundred euros,” Hartkamp outlines.
The alleged fraud was reported to the police, who are investigating it. “It is now with the Public Prosecution Service,” says Hartkamp. “Not everything will be able to be proven, also because we did not have an ATM at the campsite. That was always prevented by the former managers. Afterwards you come across more things that are not correct.”
The Public Prosecution Service has announced that a criminal investigation is underway into the course of events at the campsite. The Public Prosecution Service does not want to provide more details about this at the moment.
Since the forced departure of the managers, the campsite has continued to operate as normal. “But we are looking for new administrators. We hope someone will report soon.”
Camping Ot en Sien is a small-scale campsite in the heart of Roden, where many visitors have been coming for years. The land is part of the Mensinge Estate and was once owned by the wealthy Kymmell family from Roden. The family later transferred the land to the former municipality of Roden, which was merged into Noordenveld.
In the background, the tender for the land on Norgerweg is still pending. The municipality of Noordenveld, owner of the land, has started a new tender. It has already been established that the campsite land will be used for recreational purposes, which means that the Buitenrust foundation will simply participate in the tender.
“We have already filled in everything neatly,” says Hartkamp. “As a board, we have done everything the municipality has asked of us. Fortunately, those contacts are good.”
Councilor Robert Meijer (VVD) does not want to say anything substantive about the issue with the former manager. He did say that the municipality wants to complete the tender procedure before this summer so that it can then provide clarity about the future of the site.