New premium playground for Lange Erlen
There are to be a few changes down at the Lange Erlen: A new playground will be built in a two-million-francs project starting after Fasnacht.
On Thursday, the Rotary Club of Basel-St. Jakob handed over a cheque to the Erlen-Verein Basel in support of the project.
These days, rosy-cheeked children wrapped up in winter coats can be seen playing at the Lange Erlen. Some miss the red slide at the playground, which has already been removed. The playground next to the park restaurant has seen better days. However, by next year, a new and more modern “Spielaue” playground will be opened.
A playground with wheelchair access
The „Spielaue“ will be a “premium” playground where kids can play in a sandpit and let off steam. There will also be a platform from which children can slide down, a sculpture to climb on, and a water system.
It also will be a playground which is accessible to all wheelchair-bound children, who can use a new path which will leads through a small stream. However, if one of the kids gets wet there will be a tumble dryer on site for wet clothes. A picnic area will also be established so families can enjoy an entire day at the playground.
The „Spielaue“ is to be built outside the animal park and can be used for free even after the animal park is closed. The old playground is to be replaced by a pond. Through this, the animal park will be connected to the park restaurant.
The knocking Epiphany
Members of the Rotary Club Basel-St. Jakob yesterday handed over a cheque for 50,000 Swiss francs to the Erlen-Verein Basel, in support of the new playground.
Before Christmas, the Epiphany knocked on the doors of those in Freie Strasse – also supported by barfi.ch – and collected money for the project in the Lange Erlen. Thanks to this charity action, a total of 15,910 Swiss francs were collected. Both the Rotary Club Basel-St. Jakob and the Foundation Rotary Club Basel-St. Jakob contributed 16,500 francs each, while the UBS at Marktplatz gave 1,089 francs.
The additional costs needed to meet the needs of wheelchair users were paid by the „Denk an mich!“ foundation and a big part of the project will be covered by the Value Added Fund of the canton Basel-Stadt. The playground also aims to enhance the life quality of the residents in the growing Schoren area of the city.
Smugglers caught with 100 kilos of meat at the French border in Basel
Three men have been caught smuggling 105 kg of meat in a car travelling across the border. They were caught on a back road last Friday coming from France, the border control said on Thursday.
Border guards found the fresh meat with French sales labels during a customs inspection of the contents of the boot. The meat had been stored in plastic bags underneath clothes. Only one kilo of import-free meat per person is permitted. The driver faces thousands of francs payment for the fine and fees.
All three men were Mongolian nationals. The driver was carrying a Swiss visa and his companion had Swiss asylum documents. The three men said they had bought the meat for festivities.
Swiss firm Straumann with high turnover and revenue
Last year, Swiss dental implant firm Straumann sold significantly more dental implants and prosthetics worldwide than in previous years. The turnover of the company surged by 14.9 per cent to 917.5 million francs. Thanks to higher profits and special effects due to the takeover of Neodent, the balance resulted in a revenue jump.
The revenue jumped from 71.5 million to 229.6 million francs within a year, the producer of dental implants at Straumann said on Thursday. Last year, the takeover of the Brazilian firm Neodent had lowered the revenue, although this year the company‘s finances turned more positive.
The takeover of Neodent, by Straumann Brasil, means the firm can save taxes in the future. The saving was registered as deferred tax assets of 43 million francs. The rise of the adjusted profit by 29.1 per cent would still have grown quicker than the revenue. Profits rose by almost one-third to 227.2 million francs.
Straumann boss Marco Gadola said this week that he was „very satisfied“.
„We surpassed the market growth for 2016 significantly and we reached our best result in eight years,“ he said. All business areas reported a two-digit number of organic growth. In addition, Straumann has gained more market shares.
The growth is also mirrored in the number of employees the company has. At the end of 2016, Straumann employed 3,797 employees, 326 more than a year before. One group of employees joined Straumann via the integration of new companies. In Switzerland, the company created 70 new jobs, especially in the areas of production, research, and development.