Danger, no work in progress for some Benelux builders in lockdown
By Francois Lenoir and Johanna Geron
BRUSSELS/LUXEMBOURG, April 21 (Reuters) – Builders across the Benelux countries are juggling different coronavirus lockdown rules as well as a construction slowdown as they try to keep their businesses going.
While construction has carried on largely as normal in the Netherlands, Belgian builders say work has almost ground to a standstill, while in neighbouring Luxembourg, construction workers returned to work this week after a complete shutdown.
“Civil and large building projects have slowed down by more than 50%,” Florence Bribosia, spokeswoman at BESIX, said of activity in Belgium, adding that the Belgian construction group was still “very active” in the Netherlands.
“There we never had to close or slow down because the measures are completely different which is partially strange because it’s the same business and only a few kilometres away,” Bribosia told Reuters.
Across the Belgian border, Luxembourg on Monday allowed building sites,