The week in brief: 23 February
Cargo scanner problems at port of Antwerp, NMBS plans minimum services during strikes and more highlights from the week's news
An overview of the week's news
Technical representatives of the rail authority NMBS and infrastructure company Infrabel are in talks to work out the details of a minimum service to be provided in the event of a rail strike, mobility minister Jacqueline Galant confirmed. The announcement led to outcry from the rail union ACV, who pointed out that the government had promised consultation with the unions before any steps were taken. Unions oppose the idea of a minimum service, arguing it undermines the right to strike.
A man suspected of being an accomplice of Mehdi Nemmouche, who is in custody awaiting trial for the shooting death of four people last spring at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, was extradited to Belgium from France last week. Nacer Bendrer, 26, from Marseilles, is believed to have met the accused killer in the days leading up to the attack.
New flight paths for aircraft arriving at and leaving from Brussels Airport will come into force on 2 April and will affect fewer residents than those currently in operation, action group Air Libre said. The new routes will involve noise nuisance for 150,000 residents, compared to 600,000 at present. The paths are a return to the situation prior to the introduction of the much-contested Wathelet Plan, which was struck down by the courts. The so-called Bend to the Left over Etterbeek, Oudergem and Watermaal-Bosvoorde disappears; the Canal route over the centre of the city carries less traffic; and the Ring route and Eastern route will carry more traffic.
Limburg’s fruit dealers have begun a test project to export pears to Canada, according to the Belgian union of fruit sellers. Last year growers faced a Russian boycott on their produce, and, while many took a premium to destroy their crop, the industry is now in search of new markets. If the project is successful in handling Canada’s strict conditions, the new market could take 10,000 tonnes of pears a year.
The city administration in Antwerp is looking into making its 203 cars from car-sharing companies available to residents outside of working hours. The council is also in talks with the companies to see if civil servants could make more use of car-sharing during work. “We already work with carpools for our employees, but the idea is to extending the sharing to the people of the city,” said mobility alderman Koen Kennis.
Experts from Belgium and the UK are working on a European anti-propaganda office to address jihadist hate propaganda, interior minister Jan Jambon announced. Jambon was speaking at a conference on violent extremism in Washington. Similar agencies exist in the UK and US, which use TV advertising and social media to counter the effects of propaganda on vulnerable young people.
Police in Brussels are investigating nine massage salons in the area of the Grote Markt that they suspect may be acting as a front for money laundering. The salons are run by Chinese and Dutch owners and offer traditional Chinese and therapeutic massages. The problem is, trade alderwoman Marion Lemesre said, is that the salons do not need to apply for a licence of any kind.
The Belgian League against Anti-Semitism has said it will organise a march for tolerance this spring. The announcement follows the attack on a 17-year-old Jewish youth two weeks ago in Antwerp. “Jews are afraid of what has happened in recent weeks in Paris and Copenhagen,” said Joel Rubinfeld, chair of the league. “That sort of thing could happen here tomorrow.” The organisation hopes to attract 100,000 people onto the streets.
Equipping babies with an electronic ankle monitor to prevent them being kidnapped from hospital is a “complete exaggeration,” according to the child protection organisation Child Focus. The ankle bracelets, which send out a signal when the baby is moved from its ward, were unveiled in a pilot project in AZ Groeninge hospital in Kortrijk. “This seems more likely to create anxiety than safety,” Child Focus said in a statement.
The Brussels Parliament will have a new member for the next six months: Itch, a young Labrador. MP Carla Dejonghe is helping train the dog for Dyadis, an association that trains and assigns companion dogs to people with a physical handicap. Dyadis assigns some 120 dogs a year.
Police are to carry out increased spot-checks on the blue permit reserved for handicapped parking, after it was revealed that there are 280,000 expired permits still in circulation across the country. Expired permits that cannot be renewed – because of the death of the user or a temporary handicapped status, for example – are supposed to be returned to the social security ministry. Motorists caught with an expired permit can be fined.
