The municipalities of Tynaarlo, Noorderveld and Aa en Hunze are demanding 4.5 billion in compensation for gas extraction, the printing museum in Meppel is closing its doors and a major boost for the Drenthepad. You can read an overview of the most important news in Drenthe from last week here.
There is a threat of a drinking water shortage in the Netherlands, according to a study by the RIVM that was released on Monday. In Drenthe, WMD Drinkwater is therefore working hard to prevent this problem. “We have to take into account an increase in drinking water consumption, especially due to dry periods in the summers. We have to ensure that we build more capacity, that we have more sources to ensure that we can always supply enough drinking water in the future” , says Henk Brink, chairman of WMD.
The Drenthepad runs through three national parks, geopark de Hondsrug and is 329 kilometers long. The oldest regional path in Drenthe will receive 55,000 euros from the province, so that the walking path will become more widely known nationally. The money will be spent on, among other things, the construction of thirty benches along the path, the addition of signage and the activation of entrepreneurs along the route.
“Then we talked about all kinds of things, about the KNIL, about how the Moluccans arrived here in the Netherlands and also in Hoogeveen,” says Elie, a student of OBS the Spectrum in Hoogeveen. This school is the first with a teaching package about Moluccan history. And that turned out to be much needed, says Elias Rinsampessy of Kaum Ama Ama, a group of fellow sufferers of second generation Moluccans in Hoogeveen. “Some children just don’t know anything, but so do adults. Where is the Moluccas? Is that in Suriname or something?”
The municipalities of Tynaarlo, Noorderveld and Aa en Hunze demand about 50,000 euros per inhabitant, which amounts to 4.5 billion euros. The compensation is intended for damage resulting from gas extraction in the area. “Inhabitants of Drenthe are just as much residents of the Netherlands as residents of Groningen are. You are not allowed to make a distinction and that is now being done. There are more regulations in Groningen than in Drenthe,” says Anno Wietze Hiemstra, mayor of Aa and Hunze.
In addition to compensation for damage, the money should also be used to improve the quality of life in these areas, says deputy Tjisse Stelpstra. “How can you do something about the concerns people have? How can you offer a future for the children? That is the main question.”
Gloomy news for the printing museum in Meppel, because it will close permanently from 1 June. The museum can no longer make ends meet financially and the municipality of Meppel refuses to increase the subsidy for the museum. The costs are then no longer affordable for the museum, says chairman Stein van Ittersum. “The costs relate to the maintenance of the building. It is a national monument. And also the purchase of all kinds of materials that the volunteers use to demonstrate the graphic techniques.”