Buildings like the Schiphol airport deportation centre and the heavily fortified courthouse in Amsterdam Osdorp are being built far too quickly because of justice ministry pressure, according to an former civil servant in Tuesday’s AD.

Herman van Z, who received a 20 month jail sentence earlier this month for corruption, says the speed of construction prevents all the safety demands being met. He was in charge of part of the ministry’s building programme.
According to Van Z, the deportation centre at Schiphol, where 11 people died in a fire in October 2005, did not have a proper disaster plan in place. And the Osdorp courthouse, which was damaged by explosives prior to the start of the case against the alleged crime boss Willem Holleeder, was built too quickly.
In both cases Van Z alleges he was under pressure from the ministry of justice to complete the work as fast as possible.