Machangulo Affair
On 10 July 2008, the Prince and Princess of Orange announced that they had invested in a development project on the Mozambican peninsula of Machangulo. The development project was aimed at building an ecologically responsible vacation resort, including a hotel and several luxury vacation houses for investors. The project was to invest heavily in the local economy of the peninsula (building schools and a local clinic) with an eye both towards responsible sustainability and maintaining a local staff. After contacting Mozambican president Armando Guebuza to verify that the Mozambican government had no objections, the couple decided to invest in two villas.
In 2009 there was controversy and a swirl of rumors about the project and the prince's position in relation to it. Politician Alexander Pechtold questioned the morality of building such a resort in a poor country like Mozambique. There were allegations of corruption involving a contractor on the project and project delays in constructing the schools and clinic.
In November 2009, there were a number of parliamentary debates on the issue and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende was called to answer questions. He explained that the project was a private affair of the prince, but that extra distance had been created between the prince and the business of the project to avoid entanglements by creating a foundation to manage the prince's interests. The press called the independence of that foundation into question, because it was run by a personal friend of the prince's and a co-investor in the project.
On 20 November 2009, the prime minister returned to parliament to announce that the prince and princess had decided, due to the public and parliamentary controversy, to sell the property in Machangulo once their house was completed. To this end he read a letter in parliament written by the prince personally. The house was due to be sold on completion in 2010. Its sale was confirmed in January 2012.
Read more about this topic: Willem-Alexander, Prince Of Orange
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