 The wariness of the Amsterdam business community vis-à-vis developments concerning the construction of the subway is so great as to have prompted the landlord of this particular establishment to take sweeping measures aimed at securing his livelihood in the event of future subsidence. According to reliable sources, the suggestion is being bandied about to link the referendum for the new mayor to a referendum on the preservation of Amsterdam's historical inner city, for fear that the ancient buildings along the planned subway route will collapse into the building pits one by one. It has been pointed out in this context that the soil in the Hague inner city is not nearly as soggy as that in Amsterdam. Other reliable sources have it that the Amsterdam counter-argument to all of this is that the Iliad of Hague complications to date have been the product of human failure. This comes across as somewhat peculiar, bearing in mind that civil servants in Amsterdam having been found guilty of fraud cannot be sacked as this would make it impossible to continue operating the relevant services due to staff shortages. In this way, or so it looks, the right to commit fraud is being swapped against a non-collapsible subway system. No shortage of self-confidence there …! |