Second Delta Programme Commissioner attends commemoration of Flood Disaster
On Friday, 1 February, the new Delta Programme Commissioner Peter Glas attended the annual commemoration of the 1953 flood disaster that took such a high toll in Zeeland, Brabant, and parts of Zuid-Holland. 'I am keen to continue the tradition that Wim Kuijken established here in 2010,’ the Delta Programme Commissioner addressed those present in Ouwerkerk. ‘It is an honour to be with you today. Today, and in the commemorative years to come, I would like to show you my personal involvement.’
During the official ceremony, Peter Glas laid a wreath to commemorate the victims, together with Theo van de Gazelle, Rijkswaterstaat Senior Engineer-Director Sea and Delta. Ms Karla Peijs, chair of the Flood Museum board, also laid a wreath together with two volunteers. The younger generation was represented as well: 38 primary years 7 and 8 pupils from the Duiveland primary school in Nieuwerkerk placed white gerberas alongside the wreaths.
‘It is incredibly important for us to give intense thought to the traumatic events that took place during that February night in 1953’, the Delta Programme Commissioner spoke at the afternoon symposium in the Flood Museum, which was attended by an audience of more than one hundred. ‘To collectively commemorate your stories at least once a year. Because those stories are teaching us lessons for the future. They are teaching us to look ahead. And to anticipate. We are doing so with the National Delta Programme, in which we, together with a great many expert individuals and organisations in the country, are exploring measures that can protect our nation.’
