After “serious facts” in the latest audit: Sint-Truiden placed under additional strict supervision (Sint-Truiden)

Flemish Minister of the Interior Gwendolyn Rutten (Open VLD) has placed the city council of Sint-Truiden under additional strict supervision after the latest report from Audit Flanders. “Certain facts in the audit are serious. That is why I have instructed the governor to initiate additional enhanced supervision.” Rutten asks Governor Jos Lantmeeters to invite the mayor and competent aldermen of the local government to discuss measures.

“It is not new increased supervision,” says Limburg Governor Jos Lantmeeters. “When Bart Somers was still Minister of the Interior, I placed Sint-Truiden under increased supervision and that was never lifted. Not under Bart Somers and not when he was succeeded by Gwendolyn Rutten. That did not happen because we were always waiting for a new audit report. After the last audit (about possible conflicts of interest, ed.), there were consultations with Minister Rutten and although many steps have already been taken, we have jointly decided to continue the increased supervision for a while. It is therefore not renewed supervision, but additional increased supervision because the minister wants additional answers following the last audit. Before we lift the increased supervision, we must first be sure whether all comments from Audit Flanders have been met.”

Family bond

The latest report from Audit Flanders focuses on possible conflicts of interest in Sint-Truiden. This concerns government contracts that were awarded over the past 11 years and in which companies that can be linked to (then) aldermen Carl Nijssens, Hilde Vautmans, Jos Pierard and Peter Deltour supplied the goods or services.

In the case of Carl Nijssens (then CD&V, now independent) it concerns communication assignments by his advertising company ZOZ that were carried out in a roundabout way for the city of Sint-Truiden. Audit Flanders estimates that between 56,000 euros and 62,000 euros were paid indirectly to ZOZ in the period 2013-2023.

Alderman and Member of the European Parliament Hilde Vautmans (Open VLD) is also mentioned. She participated in files regarding the appointment of the Bouwen & Milieu company as soil remediation expert. Her cousin was in charge of that company.

From 2014 to 2022, the IJzerwaren Pierard company supplied material worth 241,425 euros to the city. The business is owned by the sons of a cousin of Open VLD municipal councilor Jos Pierard. In this file, Audit Flanders itself states that it cannot estimate whether the family bond is too close.

The last person involved is Alderman Peter Deltour (N-VA). He is co-owner of Ovis Spirits, which supplied bottles of gin for 761 euros for the New Year’s packages of city staff. The autonomous municipal company Patri, with Deltour on the board of directors, also purchased gin in 2020 for a total value of 926 euros.

Watchful eye

Truien’s mayor Ingrid Kempeneers (CD&V) does not see the additional tightened supervision as a negative development for her city. “We were already under increased supervision and this will now be extended. I don’t see it so much as a punishment but as a watchful eye to make sure everything is done correctly. Every few months we meet with the governor to report on what we have already done to prevent the mistakes of the past from happening again.”