The East Flanders province is looking into a request to transfer the municipality of Zwijndrecht – which used to be part of East Flanders but was transferred to the Antwerp province 100 years ago – to become part of East Flanders again.
Until 1923, Zwijndrecht was part of the East Flanders province but the municipality was then transferred to the province of Antwerp – which East Flanders councillor Peter Hertog considers a "historic mistake."
"I would like the Flemish Government to be asked to transfer the municipality of Zwijndrecht, which is now part of the province of Antwerp, to the province of East Flanders," Hertog explained on Radio 2. "Being part of Antwerp for 100 years is enough."
Separated by a river
Hertog submitted a motion for the transfer to the provincial council, but the province wants a month to investigate the level of enthusiasm for such an initiative, first and foremost in the municipality of Zwijndrecht itself.
Zwijndrecht became part of Antwerp to construct a number of tunnels in that province 100 years ago. "Now, they are still working on those tunnels but not a single one is on the territory of Zwijndrecht. The municipality lies there, separated from the rest of the province of Antwerp by a river, the Scheldt, while it actually borders the province of East Flanders."
Credit: VRT
When the Flemish Government recently announced that it would subdivide the region into 15 districts, it decided to make Zwijndrecht part of the "Waasland" district (which otherwise solely consists of East Flemish municipalities) – which Hertog called a "logical" decision.
"Being part of the same district also means that, in the future, all partnerships of the municipality must take place within that district. It is therefore only natural that Zwijndrecht is once again part of the province of East Flanders," he said.
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While the East Flanders' authorities were open to all of Hertog's arguments, they first want to check with the inhabitants of Zwijndrecht what they think of the idea before taking the question to the Flemish Government, Het Laatste Nieuws reports.
"That is no problem," said Hertog. "We will then be March 2023; exactly 100 years after Zwijndrecht was transferred to Antwerp. A good time to vote on the motion definitively."
