Things went completely wrong again this year in Veen: eleven cars went up in flames. Not often was it so intense, on New Year’s night. The village has a long history of car fires, something that the municipality and police have been trying to get a grip on since the 1990s in vain. What is it with Veen and the annual disturbances, and where does it come from?
In 2005, the COT Institute for Security and Crisis Management was commissioned by the then municipality of Aalburg to investigate the disturbances. It soon became clear that what was going on could only be understood by looking at Veen’s history.
Where does the tradition come from?
The residents of Veen have had a habit of gathering at the central intersection in the village on New Year’s Eve since the 1950s or 1960s – the residents who spoke to the researchers differed on this point. Initially, fireworks were lit on a modest scale, as stated in a report from the COT.
In the 1980s, wood was also burned at the intersection around New Year’s Eve. It is old, rotten wood that comes from fruit distribution company Timmermans. Until 2001, this business premises was located near the intersection.
A turning point occurred around the year 1990. For the first time, burning wood turned into burning prepared cars. The wood prepared by Timmermans is set on fire a little earlier, a day before New Year’s Eve. During New Year’s Eve itself, the car wrecks will follow for the first time.
Why don’t parents speak to their children about their behavior?
Veen is a trading village, the researchers note. There was abject poverty until the middle of the 20th century, but things slowly improved. Locally, the handy, smart and hardworking entrepreneur enjoys the most status, say the COT researchers.
Economic independence and hard work would explain the attitude of residents towards burning cars on the last day of the year. With hard work, they have earned the opportunity to determine order at their own intersection for ‘three hours’ (from 00:00 to 03:00).
“We work very hard 364 days and nights, except for Sunday, and then the mayor comes and tells us what we can and cannot do at that intersection that one night? We can do that ourselves. So we will have a fire on that one evening,” says one respondent. According to the report, wealthy parents often pay the young people’s fines.
According to sources from Omroep Brabant in Veen, older residents of the village would also give money to the daredevil who managed to smuggle the cars into the village or set them on fire.
Why does the municipality or the police do nothing?
The local ordinance has been amended several times each year to prevent cars from being set on fire. There were also initiatives, for example, to organize a bonfire at an alternative location. But without result.
Despite everything, the police are unable to build up ‘an information position’, according to the research. The residents have an aversion to the government and the police and no one wants to be known as an informant. Moreover, there is fear of becoming a target yourself. That is why eyewitnesses do not come forward quickly.
Last year there was an area ban for a number of young people, they were not allowed to appear at the infamous intersection from well before to well after New Year’s Eve. There was no such measure this year. Eleven cars went up in flames.