Former Dutch health minister Elco Brinkman has been appointed by the government in The Hague to head the organisation charged with building a infrastructural tunnel under the Zuidas, the major urban project in the south of the Dutch capital. The cost of the construction of the tunnel, known as Dok model, is estimated at EUR 2 bn, half of which will come from private enterprise.
Former Dutch health minister Elco Brinkman has been appointed by the government in The Hague to head the organisation charged with building a infrastructural tunnel under the Zuidas, the major urban project in the south of the Dutch capital. The cost of the construction of the tunnel, known as Dok model, is estimated at EUR 2 bn, half of which will come from private enterprise.
Banks ABN Amro and ING as well as a host of other financial businesses have offices in the area, which is being developed in a joint undertaking between the State and business. It is envisaged that the local train station, Amsterdam Zuid WTC, will become the city's second hub, connecting to Schiphol Airport, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, and Paris by high speed rail, the Thalys. It will also connect to the German high speed network, the ICE, via Utrecht and Arnhem. The auction of shares in the Zuidas organisation will begin in 2007.
Brinkman was Dutch health minister from 1982 to 1989, and is currently head of the Dutch Federation of Construction Contractors (AVBB).
