Floriade’s former Commissioner General finds it strange the world horticultural exhibition wasn’t entitled to Covid-19 support

According to Dutch news agency ANP, Ms Annemarie Jorritsma, the ex-Commissioner General of Floriade Expo 2022 and former Mayor of Almere, finds it hard to understand why the horticultural exhibition did not receive any Covid-19 support.

Floriade is a colourful theatre of nature that has blossomed once every decade since 1960. That is, until April 2023, when the Dutch Horticultural Council (NTR) announced that in 2032, the Netherlands will no longer host the World Horticultural Expo.

In 2022, the last Floriade happened in Almere. According to Jorritsma, the event should have received Covid-19 aid.

At the time of the pandemic, Jorritsma acted as Floriade’s Commissioner General. “At the time, I served as a conduit for information but had no role within the organisation,” she says.

“Yet, I did speak out, but eventually it turned out that the expo’s oversight fell across several government departments and we did not receive any support. I can not explain why, this you should ask the public authorities.”

Jorritsma was the first to be heard on Monday, 4 November, during a public inquiry held by Almere’s City Council. Over the next three weeks, 15 witnesses will be questioned under oath in Almere’s city council chamber.

The list includes former mayors, former aldermen and civil servants. Floriade suffered a €103.3 million loss, for which the city of Almere was entirely responsible.

The inquiry has been set up by the city council to find the truth, make those responsible accountable, and learn something for other big events.

When she was Mayor of Almere, Jorritsma never encountered any adversity against the plan to organise Floriade in Almere. The first to come up with the idea was Alderman Adri Duivesteijn after Almere lost its bid to host the European Capital of Culture. “I never signalled any disagreements or discussions between city counsellors,” Jorritsma says.

Councillors asked Jorritsma about the lack of concrete plans for the period between 2012 and 2015. According to Jorritsma, it was too early to set targets then as, at the time, it was merely about preparing the project’s first drafts. “The idea was city development and putting on a nice event,” she says, adding that she fully trusts that on the former Floriade site will emerge a beautiful new housing zone.

The former Mayor said that initially, there was always confidence that the event would be bigger than the previous Floriade in Venlo. Jorritsma thought there would be many more sponsors and that visitor numbers would be higher than in Venlo. “It is in a more densely populated area, so we were counting on more visitors,” she says.

A major setback was the doubt and eventual refusal of Rabobank as a sponsor. “I still think this was a big shame,” Jorritsma says. Previously, Rabobank had sponsored every Floriade since 1960.