Thirteen new homes in the Philippines, but discontent remains

It became clear that thirteen social housing units were to be built on the site of the current retirement housing complex Het Ankerhof. Buurtzorg’s Jos de Blok explained the plans, keeping it to himself: “I always imagine my mother ending up in one of our homes. Sometimes I see things in nursing homes that I wouldn’t wish on her. no. That’s why I keep it like it’s small.”

The Ankerhof currently consists of 22 accommodations, so there will be thirteen in return. According to Alderman Frank van Hulle, the reason is simple: “the pressure of parking”. But not all the residents present understood what the alderman was talking about. “You can park your car here anywhere.”

Most of the inhabitants present have a greater annoyance: they think that a new complex should have been built yesterday rather than today. “It’s a major scandal,” said Willy Segers. “It should have been finished a long time ago, but we are still looking at a ruin.”

When a spokesperson on behalf of Woongoed said it would take another two years before all thirteen houses were completed, the mood seemed to change. “This has been going on for years, and the end is far from in sight,” he echoed around the room.

In addition, current residents react strongly to the state of the houses. “The windows and doors are open, you can just come in and set the fire. They don’t care.”

Alderman Van Hulle admitted that there were too few accommodations available in the Philippines and therefore also explained a plan for another twenty accommodations at the De Kaaie community center site. “We want to maintain the function of De Kaaie, in combination with the construction of new apartments.”

This could lead to another problem. “We’ll have to see how many cars we can get rid of.” The alderman also indicated that he is ready to do everything possible to find solutions. “Maybe it’s time to get rid of all the bureaucratic processes, and we can color outside the lines a bit.”

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