The Eindhoven City Council has been putting out fires since the COVID-19 pandemic hit more than a year ago.
Now, Eindhoven is releasing an extra €4 million. They want to hire more civil servants to deal with issues like the crisis. The municipality says it’s “reached the end of its tether. There’s simply too much to do.”
The municipality’s had their hands full throughout the crisis. They have to implement all the emergency ordinances, support packages. They have to ensure that the COVID-19 rules are enforced too.
The city also supports the Regional Safety Council’s work. And they have to deal with the myriad of objections lodged by the business community. These people have appealed to all kinds of financial aid too.
Too much
Council workers have been able to deal with all the extra work until now. But, according to the Municipal Board, they can’t anymore. “The workload has been too high for a long time,” states the Council.
“People have contracted COVID-19, and so, are off sick. So it’s no longer responsible to postpone matters any further.”
The council took measures to steer the corona crisis’ approach in the right direction earlier on already. They shuffled employees between departments. Service to citizens and organisations has been limited. And various jobs have been postponed.
According to the city council, this is no longer enough. They need additional staff in the coming six months. The money for this will come from the municipality’s coffer.
Source: Studio040
Translator: Melinda Walraven
