Ships Fons Duchateau (N-VA) from Antwerp: “Umicore wants to take over homes from local residents at replacement value”

The question is at what price Umicore wants to do this, because the houses near the factory are of course not worth that much. Duchateau also speaks reassuring words about this. “One should not so much look at the market value at that place at the moment, but at the replacement value for an equivalent house elsewhere. As a city, we want to safeguard the interests of the residents of the district during the conversations.”

Duchateau emphasizes that everything will have to be done on a voluntary basis. Expropriating people is not a good thing, he says, because these procedures often take a long time. “With expropriations we are immediately five or ten years further.”

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