The transport ministry is to stop sending the provinces salt to keep roads ice free because of dwindling supplies, transport minister Camiel Eurlings told MPs on Wednesday night.

While there is enough salt to keep motorways safe given current weather forecasts ‘it must not get worse,’ the minister was quoted as saying by the Telegraaf.
Provincial and local government will have to look to alternatives such as grit, sand and brine to keep their roads clear, he said. ‘They should not rely on salt alone.’
Eurlings said government officials had passed on some two thirds of recent emergency deliveries of salt – some 20,000 kgs – to local government transport departments. The remaining 10,000 kgs are enough to keep motorways ice free, he said.
Another 26,000 tonnes of salt has been ordered from Belgium and Turkey.
The KNMI weather bureau is warning of further problems on rural roads on Thursday because of the continuing night frosts.