More and more people struggling to make ends meet: Rotterdam mayor

Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb is concerned that an increasing number of people are having trouble making ends meet, he said in his New Year’s speech to the Rotterdam city council on Thursday. The growing gap between rich and poor and the fact that a job is no longer a guarantee of getting by are the causes of this, he said.

“The group of people who deserve protection has grown. It’s not just the social minimum who can’t make it anymore. We can’t just look at what is needed in the short term but also for a good future. A sustainable future that doesn’t only look at full stomachs but also at children. A future in which they turn their dreams into action and later enter the labor market with a nice diploma.”

If it is up to the mayor, Rotterdam “will opt for a future in which not quantity and growth, but quality and sustainability are leading. In which people look out for each other. A society where care is not only a matter for doctors and government but for all of us.”

The situation in Ukraine will also demand a lot of time from Rotterdam politicians in the coming year. Although the city is not directly involved in the war, the war “will be felt in 2023. The Ukraine war teaches us a hard lesson,” Aboutaleb said. “We thought that mutual trade relations would lead to peace. It turns out that this is not so self-evident.”

According to the mayor, the war has serious economic consequences for the city. “So one of the lessons is to be less dependent on strategic raw materials. Investing in a sustainable future is, therefore, also an investment in the strength of our city and our country.”

The mayor again lashed out at the perpetrators who projected racist texts on the Erasmus Bridge during New Year’s Eve.

“When such a disgusting, hateful text unexpectedly appears on our beloved bridge, even in the city destroyed by the Nazis 83 years ago, you think: ‘This philosophy must never be accepted. We must never let it damage our society.’ The perpetrators used 14 words intended as ammunition: 14 bullets to hit and damage people. I’ll use 15 words: ‘We love Rotterdam, city of Erasmus where people from all over the world feel safe,’” said Aboutaleb. He urged the members of the city council to use these words to make clear that Rotterdam is not served by this ruinous ideology.