The ZEMBLA Aftermath

The Dutch documentary program ZEMBLA about Enschede Airport Twente that was aired Saturday September 11th has raised questions for politicians Theo Rietkerk and Marijke van Hees. ZEMBLA revealed that the city of Enschede is purchasing land for the runway expansion of 600 meters.

By Jan Gerrits

Theo Rietkerk, deputy for the Dutch Province Overijssel, has some explaining to do about this runway expansion. Marijke van Hees, alderwoman for the city of Enschede, said that she didn’t know that there are plans for this runway expansion.

Ignorance or deception?

Monday September 13th Evert Westerbeek, D66-member of the Enschede town council, asked Marijke van Hees if land is bought at the end of the runway and if so, for how much money. André le Loux from Burgerbelangen Enschede also wants to understand what exactly is going on. We are waiting for answers now.

Wednesday September 15th Daphne Dertien, Green member of the Provincial Parliament, asked Rietkerk tough questions about the runway expansion. All Theo Rietkerk could come up with at that time was: “There are no plans for a runway expansion. The runway will get an extra safety zone of 600 meters.” Daphne was not satisfied with this answer.

Then Rietkerk promised to look into this matter further and to respond with a lengthy letter. The Provincial Green Fraction can’t wait to read all the answers to their questions.

So we’ll just have to wait for these answers too. To be continued…