Introduction
We have always communicated transparently, and we try to reach out to the opposition as much as possible to move Kraainem’s many projects forward. Unfortunately, we have to admit that a number of projects are undermined by misinformation on social networks or fueled by rumors. This article will be updated regularly to set the record straight and provide a better understanding of projects based on the real facts.
(Sept 2021) – September festivities
September 2021 festivities: “And why is everything in Kraainem still forbidden? The burgomaster prevents all organizations that would allow citizens to meet and as the organizer of the September festivities it’s starting to piss me off …” ?
A Défi local councillor claims on facebook at the beginning of September 2021 following the cancellation of the September festivities by Burgomaster Bertrand Waucquez.
Fact check:
The organizers of the September festivities decided to cancel the September festivities themselves during the summer vacations and, at the beginning of August, they sent an e-mail of their own accord to the college of burgomasters and aldermen to announce their decision to cancel, without asking for their opinion. This is what the Défi advisor in question admitted in a subsequent facebook post …
(Jan 2021) – Riopact budget
“December 2020 multi-year plan: “The error was reported to the governor at the time, who acknowledged the validity of our complaint?”
In a leaflet dated January 2021, Défi MR claims that the governor had ruled in their favor in a complaint they had filed concerning Riopact budgets in the multi-year plan.
Fact-checking:
Two local councillors from MR and Défi have twice complained to the Governor of Flemish Brabant (July 2020 and December 2020) about the way in which the Riopact budgets have been presented in the multi-year plan. According to MR and Défi, the 1.8 million euros earmarked for Riopact should not be recorded as “available funds”, and they are asking the governor to cancel the multi-year plan on this basis.
In August 2020 and January 2021, the governor twice told MR and Défi that this was no reason to cancel the multi-year plan that had been voted on by the town council. Défi has been recalled 2x by the Governor, so what Défi MR claims in its leaflet is not correct.
What is it about? Riopact provides 1.8 million euros to upgrade Kraainem’s sewage system. This money has already been deposited and is kept in a special account, can only be used for sewage and can be entered in the long-term plan under “available funds”. And that’s what we did.
(2020) – Noise barriers
“Noise protection walls on the Ring: “Flanders makes less effort when the wall is near communes with facilities?”
This is what an MR local councillor said on facebook when the noise protection walls were installed along the Ring in 2020.
Fact check:
The 8 kilometers of new noise barriers along the Ring Road in Wezembeek-Oppem and Kraainem have been installed by “Werken en Verkeer”: the old barriers have been replaced and new ones placed in new locations. The old screens were in urgent need of renovation, as they could barely keep out the noise of traffic, which was causing a lot of noise pollution in the surrounding neighborhoods. “Werken en Verkeer” provides the same services to municipalities with and without facilities, and makes no distinction between the two.
(Nov 2021) – Cutting of boulevard de la Woluwe
“Boulevard de la Woluwe cut: “journalistic work isn’t what it used to be” (implying that Burgomaster Waucquez wouldn’t have signed a press release against the cut and that journalists would have distorted reality)? “
In the summer of 2021, an MR local councillor claimed on Facebook that burgomaster Bertrand Waucquez had not signed the press release against the cutting of the Boulevard de la Woluwe by the burgomasters of Kraainem, Wezembeek-Oppem, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and Woluwe-Saint-Pierre. And in doing so, she accuses journalists of not doing their job properly.
Fact-checking:
Since September 2019, the Kraainem-Unie/Pro-Kraainem majority, and therefore Burgomaster Waucquez, have been opposing the cutting of Boulevard de la Woluwe (first by a decision of the College of Burgomasters and Aldermen in 2019, then by a motion to the Communal Council). Together with the mayors of Wezembeek-Oppem, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, he drafted and signed a press release to this effect.
Link to Bertrand Waucquez’s press release with the other mayors: https://www.kraainem-unie.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2021-07-05_CP-4-Bourgmestres-et-echevins-EP-Ring-Bd-de-la-Woluwe.pdf
