The week in brief: 26 May
Director Peter Jackson visits West Flanders, road safety organisation will continue to announce location of speed traps, and a summary of the rest of the week's news
An overview of the week's news
The Belgian Institute for Road Safety will continue to announce the location of speed traps on the radio, despite calls last week from the association of parents of victims of road accidents to stop. The organisation claimed that the warnings cause drivers to slow down when approaching the mobile speed cameras, leaving them free to drive too fast elsewhere. Only one in three locations is provided to broadcasters, police explained.
The Brussels-Capital Region and the Flemish Community Commission (VGC) is switching to environmentally friendly electric and hybrid vehicles. Brussels-Capital Region said that it will cut its vehicle fleet by 26% and that 55 of the remaining 85 vehicles will be powered by electric or hybrid engines to reduce pollution and carbon emissions. The VGC, which represents Flemish interests in Brussels, said it will cut its fleet from 40 to 31 and implement efficiency measures so that vehicles are driven fewer kilometres.
Brussels-City is applying to host the start of the Tour de France in 2019 as an homage to Eddy Merckx, to mark the 50th anniversary of the first of his five Tour victories. “Eddy would fire the starting shot from the balcony of the city hall,” said alderman Alain Courtois. “It would be a fantastic commemoration.” The last time the tour started its first stage in Brussels was in 1958.
Final arguments in the Tomorrowland case will be heard on 11 June in the court of appeal in Antwerp. Seven residents of Boom, Antwerp province, where the dance festival is held, lost a motion for an interim injunction on the second weekend of the festival. Meanwhile, the lawyer for the residents has lodged a new complaint alleging conflict of interest after it was revealed that members of the Antwerp provincial council, who recently granted the festival a 20-year environmental permit, received free festival tickets.
Brussels faces an oversupply of cinemas in the near future, according to Gino Van Ossel, professor of retail management at Vlerick Business School. New arrivals include cinemas in the new shopping centres Uplace in Machelen and Docks Bruxsel in Laken, the 2,500-seat Euroscoop in Anderlecht, a new Pathe Palace in Brussels and a possible new UGC complex in the south of the region. The new cinemas are arriving during a downward trend in cinema attendance, Van Ossel said. “I have grave doubts about the profitability of all of these projects.”
The prosecutor-general for Antwerp will seek the arraignment of all eight members of the special police intervention squad involved in the 2010 incident in which 26-year-old Jonathan Jacobs was fatally injured while being restrained in a police cell in Mortsel. Earlier, the prosecutor had called for the officers not to face charges, but that has now been overruled by the superior office. In addition to the eight officers, a doctor and the former director of a psychiatric hospital, who refused entry to the victim, will be sent for trial, together with the commissioner of the local police in Mortsel, who called in the intervention squad.
From 1 September, the start of the new school year, 17 secondary schools in Flanders will begin teaching certain subjects in languages other than Dutch. A new law opened up the option to all schools; 25 applied for approval, and 17 were approved. Participation in the classes by students is voluntary, and classes in Dutch will run parallel to the foreign-language classes.
Flemish cyclo-cross champion Niels Albert would be able to resume racing after an operation to repair the heart rhythm condition which last week led him to announce his retirement from the sport. According to prominent cardiologist Pedro Brugada of Brussels University Hospital, “there are certain treatments that exist only here in the UZ Brussel, and certain unique people with many years of experience who are able to apply those treatments.” Albert’s spokesperson was said to be considering having further tests carried out.
Six organisations that are part of the directorate-general Environment have committed themselves to helping to clean up the North Sea: the Foundation for Sustainable Fishery Development, the Healthy Seas Project, Ecoduikers, Waste Free Oceans, DEME and VLOOT. The agreement is part of the programme “Together towards a waste-free North Sea”, set up in 2012. The partners will mainly clean up waste around shipwrecks and bring the marine waste to land via their ships.
Coffee-shop chain Starbucks has opened a new branch on the Grote Markt in Brussels, the 13th in Belgium and the fourth in the centre of Brussels, after Rogier metro station, Brussels Central and Brussels North railway stations. The location will be open seven days a week.