WEDNESDAY 8 JULY: THE HAGUE NEWS UPDATES (source: regional broadcaster Omroep West and DutchbuzZ)

• The Hague City Council hit by yet another ‘integrity scandal’
• Public Health Minister visits The Hague gym
• The Haagse Markt now fully open to the public (listen to the podcast above)
• ADO to resume training later this month

These and other local news updates in the summary below!

INTEGRITY SCANDAL AT THE HAGUE CITY COUNCIL

A The Hague City Council official has been dismissed following the disclosure of a more than two million euro suspected case of fraud. The disclosure came in a letter from the Municipal Executive to The Hague’s City Council.

Omroep West reports that the official concerned had been committing financial fraud over a period of several years and that the city council was notified of this in March this year.

This is not the first ‘integrity scandal’ concerning The Hague’s City Council. In October last year, the offices and residences of two City Council aldermen were searched in connection with suspected corruption. The cases are still under police investigation. In May this year, one of the City Council’s top officials left after it appeared that he had not been ‘transparent enough’ about his involvement with the building of the Almare Cultural Complex in the city centre.

MINISTER VISITS THE HAGUE GYM

Public Health Minister Hugo de Jong and Alderman Hilbert Bredemeijer yesterday paid a visit to the Health Spa in Loosduinen, The Hague. ‘It is special that someone as busy as the Minister of Public Health makes time to support us,’ said the owner of Health Spa, Casper Visser.

After months of closure, gyms and health clubs were permitted to reopened a week ago. ‘Our cashflow was zero after the total closure of our gym, and we have restarted with some small steps as there are strict conditions in place.’ Members each need a space of ten square metres to exercise, so numbers are still restricted. ‘Especially the elderly are sceptical about returning to the gym and are being careful,’ Visser added.

THE HAAGSE MARKT FULLY OPEN

One of the biggest open-air markets in Europe – De Haagse Markt – is now fully open to the public. The current corona measures remain in place and a one-way system has been installed to prevent crowding.

The City Council says public safety and health remain a priority and that security guards have been deployed. The Market has resumed its regular opening hours on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

DutchbuzZ visited the market this week to find out how stallholders and consumers were faring under the new measures (click on the podcast above).

ADO DEN HAAG RESUMES TRAINING

Local football team, ADO Den Haag will start training for the new football season on 20 July. The first match is scheduled for 31 July. It is not yet known if the public will be allowed to attend the training. The Dutch football union, the KNVB, will present its protocol for clubs on Thursday.

These news updates are brought to you by www.dutchbuzz.nl, in cooperation with The Hague’s official broadcaster, Omroep West.