(The Hague) The municipality of Rotterdam has not yet received any request for a permit to temporarily dismantle a historic bridge to allow the passage of the gigantic yacht of the ex-CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos, reported Thursday evening local media.
Posted at 7:25 p.m.
A spokeswoman said Wednesday that the municipality had responded favorably to the shipbuilder’s request, sparking widespread criticism, including on Twitter.
“I find the agitation quite peculiar. No decision has yet been made, not even a request for a permit,” said Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb on Thursday evening, quoted by the daily. Algemeen Dagblad (AD).
The mayor’s remarks, currently in Colombia to lead discussions on the fight against drugs, were confirmed by his spokesman, the Dutch news agency ANP reported.
The yacht is built in Alblasserdam, near Rotterdam. To reach the sea, it must pass under the Koningshavenbrug bridge, an iconic bridge dating from 1878, repaired after being bombed in 1940, during the Second World War.
It is too low for the American billionaire’s three-masted ship, a luxury yacht priced at 430 million euros, according to local media.
To allow passage of the yacht, the central part of the bridge must be temporarily removed. However, the municipality had promised after a major renovation in 2017 never again to dismantle the work, known to Rotterdammers as De Hef.
The municipality will make its decision when a permit application is indeed filed, said Mr. Aboutaleb.
It will assess the “economic interest, in particular the maritime image of our region”, and the impact on the bridge: “is this possible without causing damage? And then we want to know if the costs are reimbursed by the buyer, ”he told the AD.
Whether the buyer is one of the richest people on the planet “has absolutely nothing to do” in making this decision, added the mayor of the port city.
“It’s about the facts. I want to know them first,” he continued.