Saturday, 2 November 2013 - 03:46
NAM must make Groningen homes earthquake resistant
All of the nearly 70,000 homes and properties in Noord-Groningen should be made earthquake resistant.That is one of the recommendations of the Meijer Committee, commissioned by the Groningen province to study the future of the gas field. The NAM will also need to come up with 895 million euros to make the area safe and appealing, stated the commission Friday.
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Bambr
Deviantart The committee wants the NAM to inspect all buildings in the area separately and take measures to ensure the buildings can withstand an earthquake measuring five on the Richter scale. Schools, chemical factories, and homes of people with mental or physical disabilities as a result of the earthquakes, should have priority. Minister of Economic Affairs, Henk Kamp will decide on the future of gas winning in January. He will consider measures that could well have a positive impact on Groningen, he suggested Friday in a response to the Meijer Committee. Kamp will take the recommendations of the committee into account in his decision making. Labour MP Jan Vos sympathized with the recommendations of the Meijer Committee Friday. The NAM should always reimburse actual damages, according to Vos. The committee's advisory report consists of twelve measures to ensure that residents and business owners feel safer and gain confidence in the NAM and the national government. The measures should also allay the concerns of residents about the value of their property after future earthquakes. In addition, all addresses in the area should receive a voucher for four thousand euros to make their property more energy efficient. The NAM should also invest 330 million euros in promoting the transition to more sustainable energy and the greening of the chemical industry sector. The committee was impressed with the feelings of insecurity during conversations with people. It is worse that the rest of The Netherlands is aware of. People feel insecure and do not know what to expect of the future. They want to be heard. Support for gas winning is crumbling, according to chairman Wim Meijer. The committee wants the measures spread over a twenty-year-period. The NAM should deposit 45 million euros in a fund each year. The province of Groningen is also expected to contribute with a number of measures for a value of 100 million euros. And businesses are also expected to contribute. Earlier this year the Groningen Commissioner of the King, Max van den Berg, already claimed a compensation of one billion euros for the damage caused by gas winning.
Bambr
Deviantart The committee wants the NAM to inspect all buildings in the area separately and take measures to ensure the buildings can withstand an earthquake measuring five on the Richter scale. Schools, chemical factories, and homes of people with mental or physical disabilities as a result of the earthquakes, should have priority. Minister of Economic Affairs, Henk Kamp will decide on the future of gas winning in January. He will consider measures that could well have a positive impact on Groningen, he suggested Friday in a response to the Meijer Committee. Kamp will take the recommendations of the committee into account in his decision making. Labour MP Jan Vos sympathized with the recommendations of the Meijer Committee Friday. The NAM should always reimburse actual damages, according to Vos. The committee's advisory report consists of twelve measures to ensure that residents and business owners feel safer and gain confidence in the NAM and the national government. The measures should also allay the concerns of residents about the value of their property after future earthquakes. In addition, all addresses in the area should receive a voucher for four thousand euros to make their property more energy efficient. The NAM should also invest 330 million euros in promoting the transition to more sustainable energy and the greening of the chemical industry sector. The committee was impressed with the feelings of insecurity during conversations with people. It is worse that the rest of The Netherlands is aware of. People feel insecure and do not know what to expect of the future. They want to be heard. Support for gas winning is crumbling, according to chairman Wim Meijer. The committee wants the measures spread over a twenty-year-period. The NAM should deposit 45 million euros in a fund each year. The province of Groningen is also expected to contribute with a number of measures for a value of 100 million euros. And businesses are also expected to contribute. Earlier this year the Groningen Commissioner of the King, Max van den Berg, already claimed a compensation of one billion euros for the damage caused by gas winning.