A reader writes:
Don’t knock Dutch container housing! In the Netherlands, container housing is more prevalent and respected than you might think. And they’re well-executed, like much the Dutch do. I was just back in Amsterdam last month and saw a couple other container buildings they’ve put together. It’s a smart thing to do, since these days there’s an imbalance in container flows – full from Asia, lots of empties back from the West. Or they just stack up, as a drive along the New Jersey meadowlands will confirm for you.
Now, relocating abusive gypsies is a fair point to question, but I wouldn’t automatically associate container housing with degradation.
Another questions the notion that the Roma family was mistreated:
A little trawling around other websites, including some Dutch ones, suggests that this family has been causing serious trouble for at least 13 years.
There have been court cases. Earlier this summer the city installed surveillance cameras in their block just because there had been so many complaints, including of intimidation.
It is really hard to evict a tenant in Amsterdam. The housing association has been trying for years. I think they accused the family of causing structural damage to the building where they lived (not sure about the translation here). The judge finally allowed the eviction on the grounds that the neighbors were afraid of them.
In another picture of their two-container home, you can see a tram stop in the background, probably a five-minute walk away. According to one commenter, an Albert Heijn (major grocery store) is two stops away on this tram – so Mr. Lonis’s mother-in-law is not going to find it hard to do the grocery shopping! While Zeeburgereiland does seem pretty sparsely built at the moment, the Zeeburg area in general is an up-and-coming area of Amsterdam with lots of nice homes, shops, etc. The comment from Geert Wilders is just a loony right-winger stirring up bad feeling. They have not been sent to a concentration camp.
The Dish 