Hans Alders

Summary

Johannes Gerardus Maria "Hans" Alders (born 17 December 1952) is a retired Dutch politician Labour Party (PvdA) and businessman. He is the Chairman of the Supervisory board of rail transport company ProRail since 27 June 2014. He is also chairman of the Alders tables for the airports Schiphol, Eindhoven and Lelystad. Alders was previously Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (1989—1994) and Queen's Commissioner (1996—2007) in the province of Groningen. Hans Alders was National Coordinator Groningen from 1 June 2015. On 30 May 2018 he announced his resignation.

Hans Alders
Hans Alders in 1986
Queen's Commissioner of Groningen
In office
1 September 1996 – 1 September 2007
MonarchBeatrix
Preceded byHenk Vonhoff
Succeeded byMax van den Berg
Minister of Housing, Spatial
Planning and the Environment
In office
7 November 1989 – 22 August 1994
Prime MinisterRuud Lubbers
Preceded byEd Nijpels
Succeeded byMargreeth de Boer
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
11 November 1982 – 7 November 1989
Parliamentary groupLabour Party
Personal details
Born
Johannes Gerardus Maria Alders

(1952-12-17) 17 December 1952 (age 71)
Nijmegen, Netherlands
Political partyLabour Party (from 1972)
Spouse
Noes Alders
(m. 1972; died 2007)
Children1 daughter
Residence(s)The Hague, Netherlands
OccupationPolitician · Civil servant · Businessman · Corporate director · Nonprofit director · Trade association executive · Political consultant · Management consultant

Career edit

Alders was a PvdA member of parliament, minister and administrator.[1] He did not complete any secondary education and developed through self-study. He was soon a leading member of the PvdA party in the House of Representatives. He was spokesman for civil servants, among other things, and later secretary of the PvdA faction and confidant of Wim Kok. As Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment in the Lubbers III cabinet, Alders presented memorandums on spatial planning (Vinex) and environmental policy (NMP-plus). After his ministry, he switched to an international position.

Alders was Queen's Commissioner in the province of Groningen from 1996 to 2007.[2] On 1 September 2007 he was succeeded by Max van den Berg.

After his period as a politician, he held a large number of positions. On 1 October 2007 Alders became chairman of the board of EnergieNED.[3][4] He is also chairman of the Supervisory Board of the University Medical Center Groningen.

Alders was discredited because of his many well-paid ancillary positions. In 2005, after an investigation by a national weekly newspaper, Alders made the news because of all the Queen's Commissioners, he had the highest income from ancillary positions. He collected 48,000 euros a year from the Pension Fund for Health, Mental and Social Interests (PGGM) and more than 17,000 euros from Gasunie. Alders managed — as far as is known — to almost double his income as a former Queen's Commissioner with ancillary income. Commissioners earned a minister's salary: 122,000 euros per year. Alders earned at least 212,689 euros annually.

In 2008 Hans Alders became chairman of the Alderstafel, which resulted in a recommendation about noise pollution at Schiphol Airport. These consultations under his chairmanship also led to a sharp increase in the number of flights to and from Schiphol. Since 2008, 446,629 (Annual Report Schiphol 2009) flight movements up to 2018 against 500,000. From October 2008 to October 2011, Alders chaired the Taskforce on Biodiversity and Natural Resources. This task force was intended to make suggestions to the government for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. On 27 June 2014 Alders was appointed chairman of the Supervisory Board of Prorail with effect from 1 July that year.[5]

In 2014, Alders had more than 20 jobs.[6] That year, he was also appointed chairman of the supervisory board of ProRail.[7]

On 1 May 2015 it was announced that Alders would become the National Coordinator for Groningen as of June 1. Alders was thus put in charge of a new government agency to be formed of more than 100 civil servants from central government, province and municipalities. This government agency must better regulate the handling of earthquake damage and the reinforcement of buildings in the earthquake zone in Groningen (as a result of gas extraction in the Slochteren natural gas field).[8][9]

As chairman of the supervisory board of ProRail, he decided in September 2015 not to provide two internal documents about Prorail's financial situation, which were requested by the House of Representatives. In the end, the documents were leaked through the De Telegraaf newspaper.[10]

Personal edit

Alders married in 1972 and has a daughter. His wife died in 2007 of an incurable disease, a day before he was due to retire as Queen's Commissioner.

Decorations edit

Honours
Ribbon bar Honour Country Date Comment
  Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Netherlands 8 October 1994
  Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau Netherlands 26 September 2007

References edit

  1. ^ biografie Alders bij parlement.com
  2. ^ Website PvdA Groningen
  3. ^ Alders nieuwe voorzitter EnergieNed De Pers, 10 July 2007.
  4. ^ website EnergieNed, Voordracht benoeming Hans Alders tot voorzitter EnergieNed
  5. ^ Oud-politicus Alders nieuwe president-commissaris Prorail, NRC Handelsblad, 27 June 2014
  6. ^ Camil Driessen (1 July 2014). "Hoeveel banen heeft Hans Alders? Raad eens". Nrcq.
  7. ^ Hans Alders president-commissaris bij Prorail rijksoverheid.nl, 27 June 2014
  8. ^ "Nationaal Coördinator Alders moet einde maken aan bevingsellende". RTV Noord. 1 May 2015.
  9. ^ Nieuwe generatie bestuurders op gasdossier NOS 1 May 2015
  10. ^ Alders hield ProRail-stukken intern NRC Handelsblad, 29 september 2015

External links edit

Official
  • (in Dutch) J.G.M. (Hans) Alders Parlement & Politiek
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Housing, Spatial
Planning and the Environment

1986–1989
Succeeded by
Preceded by Queen's Commissioner of
Groningen

1996–2007
Succeeded by
Civic offices
Preceded by
Office established
National Coordinator for
Groningen

2015–2018
Succeeded by
Peter Spijkerman
Business positions
Preceded by
Unknown
Chairman of the
Supervisory board of PFZW

2001–2017
Succeeded by
Carla Moonen
Preceded by
Richard de Lange
Chairman of the
Energy association

2007–2015
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the
Supervisory board of the
University Medical Center Groningen

2010–2015
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Michiel Boersma
Chairman of the
Supervisory board of ProRail

2014–present
Incumbent