In protest, a shower in the cold water of the Nieuwe Meer: “That ferry must keep sailing”

The song ‘Veerpont’ by the Drs is playing from a speaker. P while counting down. Around twenty people plunged into the cold water of the Nieuwe Meer this morning. With the dive they want to draw attention to the Nieuwe Meer ferry, which is in danger of disappearing because the subsidy is being stopped. “That ferry connects a very large part of the city with the Amsterdamse Bos. Otherwise you almost can’t reach it. That ferry has to keep sailing,” said one of the swimmers.

The city subsidized the ferry for a sum of 50,000 euros, but they stopped doing that. A spokesman for councilor Melanie van der Horst (Transport) said the city no longer wanted to pay ‘with public money’ for a ‘recreational ferry’, partly because another ferry work without subsidy. The other ferry is Uncle Piet’s ferry.

Erik Hoogenboom is one of the volunteers who revived Uncle Piet. He is also present this morning, because he also does not want the Nieuwe Meer ferry to disappear. “This ferry, ‘De Helena‘, serves an area of ​​about three hundred thousand inhabitants. We do much less. Because then we get too many people.

During a complaint earlier three weeks ago, said shipowner Tim Klijn from the Nieuwe Meer ferry that it would be the end of the story without a subsidy from the city. “Then the crossing has to go to five or six euros, and I think no customer will come to do the crossing. “

Campfire and mulled wine

After half an hour, all the swimmers are out of the water and a camp fire and mulled wine are waiting. No one has tried to swim to the other side. ‘Can that be done without bringing the ferry over?’ It sounds through a megaphone. The answer is a real ‘No’. And so the conclusion is: the Nieuwe Meer ferry must stay.