Victims from the earthquake area who object to a decision by the National Coordinator Groningen (NCG) about reinforcement operations, have to wait longer than allowed. This is confirmed by the organization NRCafter coverage of RTV Noord. Although objections would be handled within twelve weeks, the current waiting times are more than six months. The news comes a month after the damning report of the parliamentary committee of inquiry on gas extraction, which holds the government and oil companies responsible, among other things, for structurally ignoring the security interests of Groningen residents.
The main reasons for the longer decision periods at the NCG are a shortage of lawyers and an increased number of objections, because the organization has to make a lot more decisions than before. The NCG was founded in 2015 because of the gas extraction problems in and around the province of Groningen. His main task is to find out where the reinforcement of buildings in the earthquake zone is needed and how this should be tackled. According to the NCG, about two hundred objections have now been received against decisions of the organization. More than half of these have not yet been processed. A spokesperson emphasizes that the NCG is “making every effort” to clear the backlog this year. Among other things, hiring more lawyers should ensure this.
Last month, after two years of research, the parliamentary committee of inquiry into Groningen’s gas extraction drew firm conclusions about the fate of Groningen residents in earthquake zones. A particularly critical report spoke of years of “unprecedented system failure” that had created “a catastrophic situation”. Successive cabinets and the oil and gas companies such as NAM, Shell and ExxonMobil ‘systematically’ ignored the security interests of duped Groningen residents in the gas extraction area for years, according to the committee.
Read also: Cabinet, Chamber and senior officials responsible for ‘disastrous situation’ Groningen