Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Westerschelde Tunnel Act
Normally an NV is established by simply going to the notary and registering
at the Chamber of Commerce. For an NV in which the government is the main
shareholder, parliament must decide on this. This can occur by a notification
from the minister involved and a silent consent by parliament. In this case
parliament decided that there had to be a special WesterscheldeTunnel Act.
A number of important stipulations in the Act are:
- the Act authorises the government to establish the NV;
- the Act regulates that the road, albeit the property of the NV, is a public
road and not a 'private road';
- deviating from the existing law, the Act regulates that a toll may be
charged.The starting tariff and the annual tariff increase is limited by law;
- the Act regulates that province is the official authority where it concerns
the taking of traffic measures such as the introducing and/or maintaining
of a speed restriction. Implementation is vested in the NV.
The existence of the NV is limited: after 30 years the investment should have
been recouped. If that is not the case, for example because the number of
passes falls short, or when inflation is much lower during the operational
phase than during the construction phase, and an acceptable tariff increase
is not the solution, then the Act makes it possible to extend the period to
50 years.
Possible contradiction of interests NV - government
The government's NV, to a certain degree, makes it possible to operate inde-
pendently from the regulations and procedures applicable to the govern-
ment. In this way the NV has a great deal of freedom to set up its own
organisation and to adopt an own personnel policy. That makes it possible
to work in a manner which is efficient and geared towards the own require-
ments. Further, the relatively big 'distance' between the NV and the Ministry
of Transport, Public Works and Water Management is of extreme import-
ance, a distance which makes the operation of the NV less sensitive to pol-
itical influences or internal developments within the Ministry of Transport,
Public Works and Water Management. At the same time it also causes pos-
sible tensions and contradictions of interests: as a company, the NV has a
single main purpose and that is the making of profit. In view of this it is of
importance to the NV that as many vehicles as possible make use of the
tunnel. However, the government policy reflected in the Second Structure
Schedule for Traffic and Transportation (SVV-II), is geared towards the reduc-
tion of trips by the motorist.
Furthermore, the establishment of an NV called for a cultural shift: The
Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management was employed
by the NV as a consultant, by the way without payment. The Directorate-
General for Public Works and Water Management has performed this task
outstandingly.The NV took the responsibility, determined the rules and took
the decisions to do something or not and how to deal with it. The party
which had always been the client, was now the consultant and that has
never happened before in the history of public works and water manage-
ment. In this sense too it involved a unique structure.
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