At 80% of the 250 hectares of the greenhouse horticulture sector that experienced heavy hailstorms in June, all crops are ruined. LTO Glaskracht Nederland states this at its website. For 50 hectares greenhouses have been repaired and crops are saved. These companies are able again to deliver in the manner of quality they were used to.
At June 23, a lot of companies in Noord-Brabant, and especially in the area of Someren, experienced extreme heavy weather. The repairs are still not finished as we speak.
In week 34, platform glazers started repairing the greenhouses with the severest damage. This way of glazing is the quickest because a platform can transport a large amount of glass. The drawback here is that everything has to leave the greenhouse before a platform can be used.
Plank glazers quickly started saving the companies that experienced less severe damage. This way of glazing is only suitable for smaller damage, because less glass can be transported on a plank. ‘We should actually find a better way to transport the glass to the place it is needed so this process will be quicker,’ says Wim van den Boomen, chairman of the ZLTO Glastuinbouw section.
He noticed there was no script for calamities after the heavy weather in Noord-Brabant in June. ‘We asked the insurers and companies for the scripts as soon as the weather passed by, so we could get into action as soon as it was over. However, both the insurers and the greenhouse horticultural companies turned out not to have any scripts for this.’
Van den Boomen considers the lack of a script as a great loss. ‘I would have expected we’d learnt from the hail storms in Bommelerwaard last year, but I was wrong. Insurers, greenhouse builders and companies all work in isolation. There is no structure.
It would also be better to make arrangements so everyone knows what company gets help the first. Some companies could start a new crop any moment, and other companies have to stick to a very specific start date. A better coordination would reduce the costs for reconstruction.’
Teun van der Eijk, chairman of the Coordinatie Calamiteitenbestrijding Glastuinbouw (CCG) Foundation, confirms that there is no script. ‘CCG was established in a time with sufficient active glazers in the Netherlands. We didn’t need a script that bad. This situation has changed. We will now concentrate on the people with the severest damage so they can get their company back on track again. We will then work on a script.’
