Housing refugees Container village in Bonn under construction for a year
Bonn · The city is paying four million Euros for the facility in the Reuterpark. To date, the 200 refugees cannot move into the apartments. The administration is not giving reasons for the delay.
Preparations began over a year ago. The first habitable containers were to be available to up to 200 refugees in January. Certain things have happened since then but the container village is still not ready to be moved into. A glance through the windows shows only empty rooms without any furnishings.
“The container accommodation is structurally not yet completed and therefore has not yet been occupied at all,” the Bonn press office explained when asked. There are still insulating panels lying on the site, which are currently being installed. Stefanie Zießnitz from the press office says this has not prevented occupation without giving any other reasons. The city is also not making any further statements about the companies carrying out the work – the containers were apparently delivered from Romania. It only spoke of a “container company” in its answer to the GA. The company Zweygart Fachhandelsgruppe GmbH & Co KG was later named as the supplier. Containers are not part of their normal range.
The Bonn accommodation was presumably a good deal for the company. The city administration estimated costs of four million Euros to develop the site, erect the containers and for additional building costs. The state is only bearing part of the costs under the Refugee Admission Act. Defects in supply were deducted from the contractually agreed amount. The city has left open the question why the installation of the containers has not been completed after over a year.
Since the number of refugees has decreased, there is apparently no longer any real need for the facility. Housing police units in the containers during the World Climate Conference had for a time been considered, the city confirmed: “There was a enquiry. However, at the moment the police do not need to use accommodation at the site.”
The containers cannot remain for long in the Reuterpark. The building consent is limited to three years. The press office said the building authority had put a special regulation into the building code so that the operating period only begins at commissioning. Whether the building administration can extend the temporary consent is not known. Under a deed of gift from 1911, the previous owner left the area to the city of Bonn for sports and recreational use. At present, none of the area is available apart from the clay court and the surrounding plants.
Original text: Martin Wein. Translated by Kate Carey.
