Jeroen Dijsselbloem was sworn in as mayor of Eindhoven about thirteen months ago. He discusses the city’s challenges in detail with Studio040. In the second part of the interview the topic is the theme of division in the city.
“The city simply changes. Where in earlier times workers from the Dutch province of Drente came to Endhoven in large numbers, it’s internationals now”, says Dijsselbloem. “They are the largest group of newcomers in the city, people from India, the U.S., you name it. And they bring with them a lot of things that do not immediately fit the South-East Brabant culture. On the other hand, Eindhoven has a history of growth spurts, so in that sense this development does fit our culture”.
According to Dijsselbloem, much goes well, but there are also things that need changing. “We will just have to think about ways to speed up integration. Those who are new to Eindhoven face difficulties if they want to learn Dutch. Sometimes it is simply too expensive – some cannot afford it at all”.
Better organisation
“We have to organise this better”, says Dijsselbloem. “When it comes to education, many internationals choose to send their children to a Dutch school rather than the International School. That is absolutely fine, but does mean extra effort from that school. Extra emphasis needs to be put on Dutch acquisition in the early phase”.
‘On a local level, there is nothing we can do about the height of the minimum wage’
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, mayor of Eindhoven
Small group
At the same time, not everyone in the city can benefit from the economic boom.”It is quite clear that Eindhoven is doing very well socio-economically. Yet there is a relatively small group that has difficulties making ends meet. Social policies are being developed, and policies drawn up in The Hague also affect them greatly”.
Homelessness
With the cost of living rising and rising and a tight housing market, the number of homeless people is also increasing, despite all the good intentions. “That is cause for concern, locally but also nationwide. Look at the police statistics, they feel it too. The underlying question of course is: Why is that? I do not have an instant solution”.
“We will not continue to offer coffee and cake to everyone”
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, mayor of Eindhoven
Eindhoven must ensure that we have things in order, that we make the right arrangements, the mayor thinks. “We as a municipality need to ensure that there is good care and a good cooperation with the health service, the GGzE. The number of health officials in the districts has doubled. There is also better cooperation when it comes to care and security. But the care centres are extremely busy. We cannot quite find out why that is.”
“I still thinks there are many opportunities to find people jobs. From technology to hospitality to service, and businesses can and will be approached. Springplank is one of the organisations that helps many people to find a house and a job, to break the cycle of homelessness.”
National policy
Having said that, national policies remain extremely important for people who cannot make ends meet, says Dijsselbloem. “For example, is the minimum wage enough to live on? Those are questions for the new cabinet. We cannot tackle that locally. What we can do is direct income support, help with high bills, those are things we can support locally, and we do.”
Source: Studio040
EN editorial team
