To the front page

11/1 Jurists want to stay in Oudemanhuispoort

8/2 Mayor’s portrait

8/2 Websites for social cohesion

7/2 Spreading tourism proceeds with difficulty

7/2 GroenLinks on districts: Be a man

6/2 Zuideramstel opens new office on Sabbath

5/2 The truth about integration

4/2 Wilders has little support on Amsterdam

3/2 Elite involved in neighbourhood

2/2 Johnnie Walker avoids taxes in Amsterdam

1/2 Rotterdam to tinker with district councils as well

31/1 Wooden rowing boats to disappear from Amstel

31/1 ZeeburgTV launched

27/1 Privacy activists to mess up loyalty card system

27/1 A few were still coughing, but that was an act

27/1 Chrisis in de Baarsjes

26/1 Youth have positive view of districts

24/1 Action groups call for Carmel and Jaffa boycott

24/1 PvdA members dismiss plan for districts

23/1 KLM takes on crisis with new uniform

23/1 District office not squatted

21/1 Merge districts

20/1 Closing squat bar Vrankrijk not necessary

20/1 Cleaners welcome new Schiphol director

18/1 Palestine at the Jewish Historical Museum

18/1 What is the right size for a district?

17/1 PvdA Oost against fewer districts

16/1 Committee: 7 districts by 2010

15/1 Soldiers may attend Afghanistan debate after all

15/1 Bait bike leads to arrest

14/1 Youth for Christ to republish vacancies

13/1 Paintings of the Zuidas

13/1 New Youth for Christ contoversy

11/1 Social cohesion initiative raises eyebrows

10/1 Fewer districts in 2010

10/1 Zuidas: People feel that we are losers

9/1 Fun on the ice - but not for all

9/1 Supermarket coupon fraud thwarted

9/1 I Amsterdam must remain exclusive

8/1 Use term Apartheid in every discussion

8/1 No city kiosk in Amsterdam yet

7/1 Snow

7/1 Fatima Elatik to run Zeeburg

7/1 Municipal managers to return to shop floor

4/1 Police: take photo of strange people

3/1 Gaza protest criticises politicians

1/1 Thousands to protest against attacks on Gaza

1/1 Mustapha Laboui leaves district council

2008 Archive

2007 Archive

2006 Archive

2005 Archive

ZuiderAmstel terminates ISS contract

19 April 2007 - ZuiderAmstel does not want to work with the controversial cleaning and facility services company ISS anymore. Whether a more socially responsible company will be contracted remains unclear. GroenLinks wants answers.

ISS had a contract for the management of the Multifunctional Centre (MFC), a building used by schools and social welfare agencies. The district announced yesterday that it ceases to have confidence in ISS. District chairman Duco Adema: “ISS has failed to deliver on various terrains”.

Opposition parties already had their doubts about the development and management of the MFC and had asked the Accounting Office to investigate this issue. The Accounting Office is expected to publish its findings in May.

It is rumoured that Adema, by dumping ISS, tries to clear himself before the publication of the Accounting Office report. The district denies that there is a connection.

Whether a new contractor will be more socially responsible remains unclear. When asked, the district indicates that the new contract contains stipulations about corporate social responsibility (CSR) “just as was the case with ISS”.

This is remarkable, for GroenLinks asked for a more explicit policy on CSR last autumn, responding to stories about abuses at ISS. For example, employees would not be paid on time.

At the time, the district administration promised to present a paper on this issue to the district council. That paper has not yet been published. Earlier, the district council criticised the administration because ISS had not been asked to provide work placements, even though the council had been promised that this would be a part of all major contracts.

Today, Wanda Pelt (GroenLinks) asked written questions about the situation at the MFC. She not only wants clarity on the CSR issue, but also about safety issues. In addition, she wants to know whether financial damages will be recovered from ISS.

Illustration: The district council was informed about developments regarding the MFC last Tuesday (photo: Louis Hofman). More: Accounting Office, CSR, work placements

Want to receive News from Amsterdam? Click here