The Dutch government has reportedly spent millions of euros trying to hush up embarrassing affairs. Commercial broadcaster RTL News claims millions have been spent in legal costs during the last ten years.

It investigated ten issues the government found embarrassing, including the fall of Srebrenica (nearly 1.4 million), the rocketing costs of the Joint Strike Fighter (over half a million) several scandals involving the royal family (nearly 0.6 million) and countless blunders involving the HSL high speed rail link between Amsterdam and Antwerp (nearly 14 million).

The costs were mostly incurred in hiring external lawyers and advisors. One particular practice apparently billed the government for a total of 25 million in 2010.

The national ombudsman Alex Brenninkmeijer commented:

“What you often see is that the government hires top lawyers, very expensive ones, to bamboozle its citizens. What it should be doing is laying its cards on the table and offering its apologies. Providing explanations rather than whitewash - and certainly not sweeping things under the carpet.”

(imm)

© Radio Netherlands Worldwide