No Arabic street names in new development in Bleiswijk after locals’ complaints
The municipality of Langsingerland has scrapped its plan to give six streets in a new housing development in the village of Bleiswijk Arabic names after complaints from locals. These streets will now get Dutch names, NOS reports.
The streets were to be named Wadi Musa, Wadi Damm, Wadi Rum, Wadi Shab, Wadi Draa, and Wadi Mansour. This was related to the wadis - green ditches or shallow pits in which rainwater is collected and slowly seeps into the soil - that will be built in the new housing development.
The word “wadi” is originally an Arabic word that means “dry riverbed.” The Dutch now also use the word as an abbreviation for Water Afvoer Drainage en Infiltratie.
A group of 44 locals filed an objection to the names. They “did not find the names suitable for the area” and felt that the names had no connection with Bleiswijk, a municipal spokesperson told the Volkskrant. “Naturally, we take these signals from society seriously.”
“Let’s just stick to ourselves,” one local told AD. “That’s what they do in the Middle East, too. Do you think there will ever be a Waalstraat, Rijnstrat, or IJsselmondedijk in Jordan?”
The municipality decided to give heed to the locals’ complaints. The streets will now be given Dutch names - Kolenschuitpad, Westlanderstraat, Praamplantsoen, Trekschuit, Veilingschuit, and Tuindersvlet. These names are related to water transport and horticulture.
