Vrijpoort
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The Sandhavn Gazette
News from The Dune Sea and Himyar - 2 guilder
Metro Council Approves Nedernesian Sky Force's Use of Airport
Sandhavn- The Metro Council of Sandhavn voted today in favour of allowing the Nedernesian Sky Force to make use of the airport with 67 in favour, 30 against and three abstentions. The city's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Kabelo Mbonambi, is expected to sign the bill later this afternoon with the first Nedernesian Sky Force aircraft expected to arrive overnight.
The debate was opened up during the summer when International Development Nedernesia (IDN), a Nedernesian government agency, was unable to meet food and supply deliveries solely with civilian aircraft charters. IDN requested permission from the Sandhavn Metropolitan Authority to make use of Royal Nedernesian Sky Force cargo aircraft. The request was approved, but on a case by case basis, meaning that all deliveries via Royal Nedernesian Sky Force aircraft had to receive individual approvals - a cumbersome and lengthy process.
It will not just be cargo planes making use of our desert airport, however. Griffin multi-purpose fighter jets and at least one aerial refuelling tanker are also expected to be based here. Chief Executive Mbonambi had argued in September that 'with the region not totally stable, especially with recent events in Nzadiland, our vulnerable city and surrounding area need a guarantee of protection. Our Nedernesian friends can help us rest a bit more easily'.
Sandhavn's economy relies heavily on products and jobs from Nedernesian companies. Many Nedernesian citizens live in Sandhavn and operate businesses and factories here. A booming tourist industry, focused on the powder sand beaches and the desert safaris, also sees hundreds of thousands of Nedernesian tourists visiting our southern half of the Dune Sea each year. KLM Airways, the Nedernesian national carrier, has increased the number of daily flights from Vrijpoort to Sandhavn from one to two, with three daily flights during the northern hemisphere's winter, when many Nedernesians fly south to escape the bleak Scanian winter. There have even been rumours that KLM may be toying with the idea to start a long-haul budget airline that could cater to tourists from other countries that want to visit Sandhavn.
Other Headlines
» Metro Police is struggling to battle gangs in northern city outskirts and has called on Metro Council to find a long-term solution to the pourous 'Northern Demarcation Line' that acts as Sandhavn's de facto line of control for the Southern Dune Sea. Checkpoints along the only two paved roads and other unpaved desert pistes are 'wholely inadequate' for stopping the smuggling of guns and drugs from elsewhere in Himyar to Sandhavn.
» Sassa is on the brink of insolvency and asks Metro Council for bailout 'lest hundreds of thousands starve'. Sassa (Sandhavn Social Security Agency), which provides the impoverished majority of Sandhavn and the Southern Dune Sea with basic monthly grants for food and housing, is bankrupt and will reportedly not be able to post electronic transfers and dispense cash grants in November. 60% of Sandhavn and Southern Dune Sea citizens rely on Sassa grants to feed themselves and their families and pay rent, among other uses. In 2011 Sassa received a 20 billion Nedernesian Guilder bailout from Metro Council, which controversially took money from a transport infrastructure fund. Chief Executive Mbonambi has made public his propensity towards not repeating such events, but is facing pressure from councillors to think of the plight of the masses. Sassa senior staff were seen entering the offices of International Development Nedernesia in central Sandhavn this morning, possibly to ask the Nedernesian aid and development agency for funding.
» Three Sandhaveners were denied entry into Salen last week as their passports were deemed insufficient. 'Southern Dune Sea Special Region' passports are special passports issued by Hälsingia-Wendowskie, but do not grant the same residency, working and travel rights as a true citizen of Hälsingia-Wendowskie. While many nations recognise the passport, almost all require stringent visa applications and some countries, like Salen, simply do not recognise them. Nedernesia is one of the only countries that does not require visas for Southern Dune Sea citizens (Nedernesia doesn't require visas for any nationality) and a significiant Southern Dune Sea diaspora lives in Vrijpoort - Nedernesia's embattled Senior Minister, Bas Duinman, counts himself as offspring of Southern Dune Sea diaspora immigrants.
News from The Dune Sea and Himyar - 2 guilder
Metro Council Approves Nedernesian Sky Force's Use of Airport
Sandhavn- The Metro Council of Sandhavn voted today in favour of allowing the Nedernesian Sky Force to make use of the airport with 67 in favour, 30 against and three abstentions. The city's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Kabelo Mbonambi, is expected to sign the bill later this afternoon with the first Nedernesian Sky Force aircraft expected to arrive overnight.
The debate was opened up during the summer when International Development Nedernesia (IDN), a Nedernesian government agency, was unable to meet food and supply deliveries solely with civilian aircraft charters. IDN requested permission from the Sandhavn Metropolitan Authority to make use of Royal Nedernesian Sky Force cargo aircraft. The request was approved, but on a case by case basis, meaning that all deliveries via Royal Nedernesian Sky Force aircraft had to receive individual approvals - a cumbersome and lengthy process.
It will not just be cargo planes making use of our desert airport, however. Griffin multi-purpose fighter jets and at least one aerial refuelling tanker are also expected to be based here. Chief Executive Mbonambi had argued in September that 'with the region not totally stable, especially with recent events in Nzadiland, our vulnerable city and surrounding area need a guarantee of protection. Our Nedernesian friends can help us rest a bit more easily'.
Sandhavn's economy relies heavily on products and jobs from Nedernesian companies. Many Nedernesian citizens live in Sandhavn and operate businesses and factories here. A booming tourist industry, focused on the powder sand beaches and the desert safaris, also sees hundreds of thousands of Nedernesian tourists visiting our southern half of the Dune Sea each year. KLM Airways, the Nedernesian national carrier, has increased the number of daily flights from Vrijpoort to Sandhavn from one to two, with three daily flights during the northern hemisphere's winter, when many Nedernesians fly south to escape the bleak Scanian winter. There have even been rumours that KLM may be toying with the idea to start a long-haul budget airline that could cater to tourists from other countries that want to visit Sandhavn.
Other Headlines
» Metro Police is struggling to battle gangs in northern city outskirts and has called on Metro Council to find a long-term solution to the pourous 'Northern Demarcation Line' that acts as Sandhavn's de facto line of control for the Southern Dune Sea. Checkpoints along the only two paved roads and other unpaved desert pistes are 'wholely inadequate' for stopping the smuggling of guns and drugs from elsewhere in Himyar to Sandhavn.
» Sassa is on the brink of insolvency and asks Metro Council for bailout 'lest hundreds of thousands starve'. Sassa (Sandhavn Social Security Agency), which provides the impoverished majority of Sandhavn and the Southern Dune Sea with basic monthly grants for food and housing, is bankrupt and will reportedly not be able to post electronic transfers and dispense cash grants in November. 60% of Sandhavn and Southern Dune Sea citizens rely on Sassa grants to feed themselves and their families and pay rent, among other uses. In 2011 Sassa received a 20 billion Nedernesian Guilder bailout from Metro Council, which controversially took money from a transport infrastructure fund. Chief Executive Mbonambi has made public his propensity towards not repeating such events, but is facing pressure from councillors to think of the plight of the masses. Sassa senior staff were seen entering the offices of International Development Nedernesia in central Sandhavn this morning, possibly to ask the Nedernesian aid and development agency for funding.
» Three Sandhaveners were denied entry into Salen last week as their passports were deemed insufficient. 'Southern Dune Sea Special Region' passports are special passports issued by Hälsingia-Wendowskie, but do not grant the same residency, working and travel rights as a true citizen of Hälsingia-Wendowskie. While many nations recognise the passport, almost all require stringent visa applications and some countries, like Salen, simply do not recognise them. Nedernesia is one of the only countries that does not require visas for Southern Dune Sea citizens (Nedernesia doesn't require visas for any nationality) and a significiant Southern Dune Sea diaspora lives in Vrijpoort - Nedernesia's embattled Senior Minister, Bas Duinman, counts himself as offspring of Southern Dune Sea diaspora immigrants.