New Year's Speech by Mayor Ahmed Marcouch,
7th January, 2010, 18.15, held at the World Fashion Center, 13 Koningin Wilhelminaplein, Amsterdam. Translation by Freddy Konstantinou.

 

Dear people,

Slotervaart is a wonderful district of Amsterdam – thanks to the people who live there. We don't nag, we fight. We don't allow ourselves to be discouraged by any adversity.

- The mother who hardly speaks Dutch, but who, nevertheless, has three children in high school.

- The shop owner who opens his shop again every Monday, despite the fact that he has been robbed more than once.

- The young man who started his education on the lowest level, and who, by working hard, has got his university degree in the end.

Slotervaart needs administrators and politicians who are willing to fight, just like these citizens have done.

And so we did, as District City Council, and as District Board. We have worked hard to bring Slotervaart on the same level as the rest of Amsterdam.

Dear friends,

Four years ago, the police force hardly had the courage to do its work and to apply the law, in parts of Slotervaart.

. A group of young criminals ruled these neighborhoods. Women were insulted openly and even assaulted as well.

. The surroundings were impoverished and messy.

. The quality of the houses was very bad.

. The primary school was the worst one in Amsterdam.

These are exactly the four principals on which an urban society should have its foundation:

. the city has to be safe;

. public areas should be clean;

. everyone should have a decent house;

. education has to be of a certain quality, and on a certain level.

In the area I was referring to just now, Overtoomse Veld, it was "five to twelve", I said back then. At present, four years afterwards, everything has improved. Everything! It's not good yet, not as it should be yet, but the area is improving definitely.

We have booked a lot of progress in all four aspects.

You, the residents of Slotervaart, have seen this happen. Recently, in the Civil Monitor, you rated our Board with a generous "8" (which is the equivalent of an American A, or B - FK), the highest rating given by any Amsterdam citizen to which ever District City Board. This is the best compliment we could have hoped for. Ineke Ketelaar, Paulus de Wilt, and myself, want to thank you for that.

I'm also seeing happy people carrying moving boxes. Here, in Slotervaart, we have reached a new phase in our Urban Renovation Project. No way, that we want residents to leave! In the new houses and in the new apartments, both renters ánd buyers from New-West will live. Besides that, the area will become a mixture of richer and poorer residents, living next to each other. It sounds like an enigma. However, the solution of the riddle is simple: we are building a whole lot of extra houses and apartments. On places where there used to be grass, you can see the apartment buildings of Jatopa, 155x Thuis, and De Meester. And on places where there used to be houses with only one layer, along the Postjesweg, opposite the police station, you will find apartment buildings with four, or five layers. So, we can have the best of both: residents can stay, and new residents will come.

Among the people who are moving at the moment, there are a lot of former residents of the Hart Nibbrigstraat.

Because the houses of this "Street of Mohamed B" are now definitely being demolished, just like a lot of streets in the same area, in the worst part of Overtoomse Veld. This will take place in February, 2010. The housing corporations have to work hard now, and keep up their pace, that is very important, despite the financial crisis!

But, of course, this doesn't mean that we have reached our goal.

Integration is slowing down. Many people are doing a good job, but many stay behind as well. Let's not beat around the bush: the group of youngsters who commits (small) crimes is too big; there is a small group of radical Muslims who turn their back on society; older, as well as younger people don't speak Dutch well enough; the children and youngsters don't accomplish enough at school; unemployment rates are high, the average income is low.

We - both the Council and ourselves - have created a turning point already in the past four years. The integration progress is speeding up again. We have to persevere now! The key is always good education. That is why the low quality of the secondary schools in New-West is our biggest concern. The pupils and the students in New-West also rate their schools with a very low score, in fact, the lowest in the country. Unfortunately, those schools are the schools of our youngsters. Sometimes, they even can't do their exams, because absent teachers are not being replaced. A student who skips school gets a fine. A neglectful school like that should get a fine as well!

Here, in Slotervaart, we strive for a paradigm shift. "'LIVE, Don't wait. Be the architect of your own happiness". I know, that there is noting more challenging than a mentality change. But it can be done! Look at the women of "VLAM". They would rather work for Euro 1,000.=, than live on welfare for Euro 1,000.=, because work is the start of a career, and welfare means stagnation.

I also realize that it will take at least eight years to implement this paradigm shift in New-West as a whole. I regret that I won't be able to keep my promise to remain in New-West for another term. However, I just wasn't elected as leading man, by 178 Labor Party members of New-West, who came to vote.

Fortunately, the improvements in Slotervaart have been made irreversible for New-West, by the Municipality of Amsterdam. The Municipality has given the improvements a steady basis. Good examples are juvenile social work and education.

Juvenile social work. The million Euros Slotervaart has given to juvenile social work is now actually being used for youngsters. The social workers, now, are allowed to do what they do best. They don't have to be surrogate police officers. The street coaches which Mayor Cohen has employed are doing the law enforcement part of the job. They don't have to discipline youngsters anymore. Alderman Asscher has employed 8-8 coaches to do that job. Not just in Slotervaart, but in New-West as a whole, and even outside New-West. A good example of the power of the new juvenile social work is rapper Adnan, who has flourished at juvenile center Oportuna, and who is going to perform for you shortly.

Education is the second example of the irreversible shift which is taking place in Amsterdam, and which has begun in Slotervaart. Primary schools, like Ru Paré, are improving, and they do not have to fall back. Alderman Asscher has created a elaborated program for the improvement of primary education in Amsterdam as a whole. Asscher even has given educational inspectors entrance to the class room. They observe, and coach the teachers in their attempt to improve the quality of education. This way, the schools in New-West, North, East, and South-East will reach the same level of educational quality as the schools in South, and the center of Amsterdam.

I want to answer the question, asked by a lot of disappointed residents of Slotervaart: how can they keep in touch with me, for their questions, their problems? Just like Paulus de Wilt and Ineke Ketelaar, I will be available for politics after 1st May, 2010.

-  Paulus has been elected as leading man for Groen Links,

-  and Ineke will be available for a new term as well. 

The fact that I won't be the leading man for Labor New-West is a shame, but it also opens the door to new possibilities. I will be on the list for the Municipal Elections in March, 2010. If I get enough votes, I will be available for Amsterdam politics, e.g. as a member of the City Council for Labor. Because that is the best way to apply myself to my goals: better education, less inconvenience in the neighborhood, working on the integration progress, and the freedom for everyone to be who they are.

What I have learned the hard way, recently, is that every single vote counts, so, dear friends, don't think that everything is going to be alright if you don't leave your house on the 3rd of March, 2010 (date of the Municipal Elections - FK).

Do it!

. For the mother who hardly speaks Dutch, but who, nevertheless, has three children in high school.

. For the shop owner who opens his shop again every Monday, despite the fact that he has been robbed more than once.

. For the young man who started his education on the lowest level, and who, by working hard, has got his university degree in the end.

You do it to get a strong administration, which New-West needs so badly. You do it to make the new Board members keep the promise which hasn't been completed yet: making New-West the most wonderful area of Amsterdam, for the normal, hard working Amsterdam citizens.