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| Tema Citizens Club inaugurated in Amsterdam South East |
9/30/2012 |
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Tema Citizens Club inaugurated in Amsterdam South East
Contribute to a worthy course and make the projects that Tema Citizines club has set embark in Tema Township to be a meaningful one. This was said by Mr. Kobby Annan, the chairman for the occasion of the inauguration of the Tema citizens club in Amsterdam South East. He gave a brief history of Tema and how the word Tema evolved.
In his contribution, the Chairman of Tema citizens club, Oheneba Kyei Mensah said they have purchased some surgical equipment for Tema General Hospital. Currently, they are in the process of refurbishing the dilapidated dinning hall of the Tema Secondary School. They urged all the people to contribute their widow’s mite.
Mr. Adansi Pipim of Okyeman Foundation advised the club and their executives to be fair and transparent in their activities, especially financial dealings. He took the opportunity to announce the impending silver jubilee celebration of the Okyeman Foundation in Amsterdam.
Mr. George Bush of the Asante Kotoko Fun club also advised the executives of the Tema citizens Club to have respect to for the members. This will bring unity and togetherness to the club. Mrs. Agnes Boison van Noorwegen was crowed Miss Tema 2012. DJ Kudjo trilled the participants with fantabulous music.
Scrap the A word, say Labour councillors in Amsterdam
Labour councillors in Amsterdam have called for the word allochtoon - literally non-native - to be scrapped from all official council paperwork. Councillor Iman Akel told local television station AT5 the word has ''''no added value'''' and the council should stop differentiating between native and non-native residents. ''''There is no such thing as the non-native,'''' she said. ''''What are we talking about? The word has too much emotional value.'''' Instead, council policy should focus on tackling problems such as obesity in children with a Turkish background, not stating ''''non-natives are fat'''', she said. Last week Belgian newspaper De Morgen decided to stop using the word because it is stigmatising. According to the Van Dale dictionary, allochtoon means migrant, foreigner or alien. However, the word is mainly used to describe non-western immigrants and their children. The third generation of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants are still known as allochtoon despite being born and brought up in Holland. Politicians in the Netherlands have wrestled with the word for years, and there have been previous attempts to have it banned from official documentation.In May, the cabinet''''s advisory group on social development RMO said the government should stop categorising the population of the Netherlands according to ethnicity and parental birth places.
Dutch passports valid for 10 years, except for kids
Dutch passports are to be valid for 10 years rather than five, and fingerprints will no longer be taken for inclusion, the cabinet agreed on Friday, Nos television reports. However, the passports for children under the age of 18 will still only be valid for five years, because their faces change so much, the cabinet said.
Parliament clashes with immigration minister over family reunions
Plans by the outgoing government to introduce tougher rules for family reunions among immigrants may not now go ahead, after a majority of MPs voted for the legislation to be put on hold pending the formation of a new cabinet. Immigration minister Gerd Leers said earlier on Thursday it was too late to stop the plan coming into effect - which is due to happen on October 1. Reversing the plan will cost millions of euros and cause a great deal of extra work, the minister said. In addition, if MPs had wanted to halt the plans, they should have declared them controversial after the out-going government collapsed, Leers pointed out. However, MPs disagreed, with left-wing parties saying there is a new situation following the general election and the minister should respect this. Leers has pledged to brief parliament on Friday about how he intends to deal with the motion which was not supported by the ruling VVD or anti-immigration PVV. He will first discuss the issue with other ministers in tomorrow''''s cabinet meeting. The new rules on family reunions would mean couples who are not married would no longer be able to bring in a partner to join them, although a special ruling would cover gay couples who cannot marry. Adult children would no longer be covered by family reunion laws and couples would only be able to bring a partner to the Netherlands after one year. In addition, the ex-partner in a divorce would only be entitled to residency if the couple had been together for at least five years.
Rents rise sharply in Amsterdam
Tens of thousands of former rent controlled properties in Amsterdam are now private sector houses because of rule changes, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday. Housing corporations have also put up rents sharply in Utrecht, Leiden and Culemborg, the paper says. The Volkskrant bases its claims on its own research. The rental price of social housing is based on a system of points. Earlier this year, the government introduced new rules which allowed landlords in places where rental housing is scarce to increase their rents, adding up to €120 a month to the cost for new tenants. This means in Amsterdam 20% of what was rent-controlled housing now costs more than €664 a month, the paper says. Once a property breaks this barrier, landlords are free to charge whatever rent they like. Tenants'''' organisations sounded the alarm this summer, warning that in some places it is now impossible to find rent-controlled property. However, ministers dismissed the claims, saying they were unrepresentative.
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