The left-wing party advocates a refinancing of the Region, a break with political privileges, fragmentation and waste of money. After all, the PVDA wants to give the keys of the Region back to its 1.2 million inhabitants and break with the growing power of the large project developers. This is a fundamental break with the policy that has been pursued for 30 years by coalitions led by the PS/Vooruit and the MR/VLD, sometimes flanked by Groen, Défi, sometimes by CD&V or les Engagés.
The PVDA presents its plan “For a social change: Guidelines for a Brussels Region.” To tackle the social crisis in the capital and get the Region out of bankruptcy.
Françoise De Smedt, leader of the Brussels Parliament, explains: “Our Region is in the grip of a deep social crisis. One child in four is at risk of growing up in poverty and too many young people do not have a quality job. The housing crisis has never been so high. Rents for apartments that are often too small or in poor condition are skyrocketing.”
The PVDA also criticizes the fact that the Region does not have the resources to tackle this social emergency. Nabil Boukili, federal representative of the PVDA and party leader for the Brussels Chamber of Representatives, explains: “The Region is virtually bankrupt. This situation endangers public services, ranging from social housing companies, STIB, the water company (Vivaqua ) and the electricity company, to health care, nursing homes and waste collection.”
Three changes and five projects
The PVDA proposes a plan based on three fundamental pillars to tackle the social emergency and the bankruptcy of the Region. Nabil Boukili: “First and foremost, the Brussels Region must be refinanced by the federal state. Our Region generates almost 20% of the country’s wealth, but receives less than 9% of tax revenues. Our Region offers a range of services and jobs to the entire country. And that is normal, it plays its role as the capital of the country. But it must have the resources to do this.
Jan Busselen, party leader for PVDA (Dutch-speaking council) in the Brussels Region and Brussels MP, adds that the second pillar aims to combat institutional waste and political privileges: “Firstly, there are too many ministers and too many levels of authority. Five ministers/members of the council for health care, that is absurd. That is why we want to merge the three community committees (Cocof, VGC and Cocom) at regional level, which already provides simplification. But we also want to make spatial planning and housing policy more efficient and coherent by transferring these powers from the municipalities to the Region.”
Françoise De Smedt continues: “There is also a political class in Brussels that lives beyond its means. The best-paid politician in our country is the President of the Brussels Parliament. For example, he earns more than the British Prime Minister. And the Cabinet of Ministers President Rudi Vervoort is the largest in our country with 86 employees.”
Françoise De Smedt proposes the third line of action of the PVDA: “A handful of large project developers from the richest families in Belgium have far too much power in the Brussels Region. As a result, the Brussels situation is worsening and the hole in the budget is growing. We must break with these concrete barons. Look at the metro works: the consortium around Besix and Jan De Nul are committing the robbery of the century. We started with a project that would cost 1 billion euros and that would be ready in 2025. Today we are saddled with a bill of more than 4.7 billion euros. That is unaffordable.”
Françoise De Smedt continues: “We must also stop selling our public land to real estate developers who mainly build luxury homes. The result is that housing prices have become unaffordable for a growing part of the population. Brussels policymakers listen too much to this concrete barons instead of prioritizing the needs of its population. That is why we want a social change. And we do this by building 100% public housing on public land and by reducing rents the hand of price regulation.”
These three lines of action are necessary to implement five major projects that respond to social needs in Brussels:
- Affordable housing and urban planning
- Better public transport
- Strong public services: water, energy, cleanliness, citizen services
- Good employment
- Accessible and quality healthcare
Of course, these three pillars and five main lines are part of the national PVDA program, which will also focus on the drastic improvement of education, culture and safety. Three important challenges that have a major impact on our capital today.
