New Zembla revelations Oranjedorp again raise council questions: ‘Gift that keeps on giving’

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The case surrounding the destroyed mineral resources in Oranjedorp leads to new questions among various Emmer council factions. In the second part of the podcast of research program Zembla the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE) contradicts the story of the mayor and aldermen on points.

This morning it appeared in the Daily from the Northn the report that Emmen had already been reprimanded by the province of Drenthe in December for missteps at Oranjedorp. Reason for Hart voor Emmen and CDA, among others, to sound the alarm again at the council.

Brought two weeks ago Zembla in a podcast that the municipality of Emmen has committed missteps in the construction of a distribution center near Oranjedorp. Archaeological mineral resources would have been lost as a result. The municipal council was not informed about this in advance. During an emergency debate held last Thursday, the council, and in particular responsible councilor René van der Weide (Wakker Emmen), apologized.

On Tuesday, Professor Jos Bazelmans, head of archeology at the RCE, responded angrily to the councilor’s statements. According to Van der Weide, the RCE could have played a significant role in preventing the loss of the archaeological finds at Oranjedorp. The RCE contradicted this and called the alderman’s story ‘incomplete or even wrong.’ According to the RCE, the municipality largely kept aloof and the RCE mainly tried to turn the tide on its own initiative.

The developments raise new questions among council factions who believed that they had already heard all the answers last week. “It is the gift that keeps on giving“, sighs Robart de Jong from Hart voor Emmen. He is curious about the differences between the stories of the RCE and the alderman’s account during the emergency debate. And especially on what basis the municipal executive drew its conclusions about the role of the RCE. “One thing does not correspond to another.”

“First there was the podcast, that’s right,” said CDA faction leader Rene Wittendorp. “We will then hold an emergency debate, which will be a mutual hearing.” Normally you are there then, he says. “But the podcast and the provincial letter raise new questions,” said the CDA leader. The Christian Democrats clearly do not want more surprises. “We want to ask the council how we can break the cycle, how do we solve this.” Wittendorp also believes that the council should have informed the council about the letter much earlier.

Van der Weide responded to the follow-up questions from the opposition parties during tonight’s council meeting. “The media gives the impression that we are giving the RCE the blame. That is not the case. We mainly looked at ourselves and what did not go well there. I explained the timeline and also talked about the RCE.”

According to the councilor of Wakker Emmen, the municipality played no role in informing the RCE. However, the municipality has asked responsible project developer Solidiam to conduct additional research. Research agency EARTH was approached by Solidiam for this purpose. Van der Weide: “EARTH acted on behalf of Solidiam and EARTH subsequently informed the RCE.”

Van der Weide says he regrets the discussion with the RCE. “I actually stated last week that at a certain point only the RCE, and therefore the government, still had the option to hinder the construction of the distribution center. The fact that this is interpreted differently by the RCE is up to them and recognized there. I do not participate. If other parties interpret certain words differently, that may be part of the discussion.