Walking around because there are naked people lying in the bushes, using drugs and constantly drunk. There are rats running around and people poop and pee in the wild. In the center of Oss, residents have a full card when it comes to nuisance bingo. After no one wanted to listen to the local residents, the SP of Oss opened their door. “I was really shocked by it,” says councilor Marie-Therese Janssen.
“Everyone had the same story,” she continues. That there are constantly drunk men walking around taking drugs, arguing and shouting at people. It makes local residents feel so unsafe that they do not dare to go public with their story. “They are really scared,” Janssen says on their behalf. The people causing the nuisance are certainly not open to criticism. “When an old couple said something about it once, there was a knock on their window all night long.”
“People said there were men defecating in front of them at dusk.”
Janssen was shocked after hearing the stories from residents. “People said there were men defecating in front of them at dusk.” Normally the council member is well informed about what is happening in her city, but she did not know that the nuisance was so bad. “Then you suddenly no longer feel like such a proud Ossenaar.”
The nuisance arose after a large group of migrant workers came to live in one place. There is a group in the water board building and a group in the City Hotel, close to each other. “When you are back in a hotel room after your 40-hour working week, I understand that you sometimes escape outside. These people are vulnerable and they do not speak the language,” the councilor continues. They are bored and therefore seek out each other and the narcotics. This does not apply to the refugees who are in the tax office, the councilor emphasizes. “The neighborhood is not inconvenienced by this.”
“Enforcement is there, but not nearly enough.”
It is mainly the small park on Boterstraat and Margarinepad, which Janssen calls a no-go area. “Women, the elderly and children do not dare to walk on the street alone,” she explains. The report contains photos taken by residents showing litter and sleeping men in the park. “Enforcement is there, but not nearly enough.”
That is why the SP hopes to be able to tackle it through the municipal council. They want more enforcement and more conversations with migrant workers and their landlords, but especially more conversations with employers. “Those people need to have something to do after they get off work. Have a social circle. And their employer is also responsible for that.”