Accident in Muttenz: local council debates measures, tram driver receives special support
Sometimes, a split second can change a life: On Tuesday afternoon, a child was run over by a tram in Muttenz. The entire town is in shock – particularly because a temporary school route runs alongside the scene of the accident.
At the Käppeli tram stop in Muttenz, Tuesday noon: A ten-year-old boy wanted to cross the tram tracks with his scooter and was not aware that a tram was coming. The worst happened: The tram hit the boy and severely injured him. About 70 emergency service personnel from the police, fire service, and ambulance service were involved in the emergency operation. The tram line 14 was disrupted, and for one hour there was a complete traffic blockage between Rennbahn crossing and Freidorf.
The town of Muttenz is in a state of anxiety. A temporary school route leads across this tram stop: The municipality is currently renovating its primary school buildings, which is why many children have to go to other schools in the meantime. “We are shocked,” local council member Franziska Stadelmann told barfi.ch. “We had a long and detailed discussion with the police about the re-routed school path ahead of the move to other primary schools.” Ms Stadelmann said she could not provide any further information at the moment. The members of the council of Muttenz met on Wednesday afternoon to discuss whether further measures are needed after the accident.
Boy is in hospital, tram driver receives special support
The injured boy is out of danger but he remains in hospital, police spokesperson Adrian Gaugler confirmed. The Basel Transport Services (BVB) is also very shocked by the accident, their media spokesperson Benjamin Schmid said. “We wish all affected persons, particularly the injured boy, only the best and a speedy recovery. We also thank all the emergency personnel for their action.”
The accident not only affected the severely-injured schoolboy: the tram driver is also in shock. Mr Schmid said that, following the accident, the driver received the support of the care team at the BVB as well as and Baselland police. The BVB care-team will continue to provide support to the driver: “Due to the severity of the accident, the BVB have also involved the crisis intervention office KIS of the canton of Basel-Stadt as part of the process,” Mr Schimd said.
Baselworld celebrates 100-year-jubilee
Baselworld will open its doors for the 100th time today. There are fewer exhibitors this year however because the watch industry is in crisis.
Last year, Swiss watch exports dropped by almost a tenth to their lowest level since 2011. This drop continued also in January. The economic problems of watchmakers are also noticeable at the watch exhibition in Basel.
The number of exhibitors fell from 1500 in 2016 to 1300 this year, Baselworld director Sylvie Ritter told the media on Wednesday. However, the decline is not caused by the challenging market situation only.
For instance, exhibitors who did not fit into the concept of the exhibition and did not meet certain criteria were turned down. Baselworld is keener on quality than on quantity, Mrs Ritter emphasised.
Yet the current market is also a chance for manufacturers who work their craft diligently, exhibitor committee president Eric Bertrant said. This consolidation will be of benefit for the entire industry once the economic situation becomes more stable again, he said.
Budget of Basel-Stadt for 2016 - half a billion francs more than expected
The budget of the canton of Basel-Stadt for 2016 was better than expected: Due to a pension fund reform, the calculated deficit was at 952,3 million Swiss francs. However, the actual result was a deficit of 451,5 million francs. There were more tax returns than accounted for, and assets increased in value.
The reform of the state pension fund resulted in a loss of one billion francs for 2016 – three million francs more than estimated. Without this, the canton would have been in surplus by 562 million francs, the government of Basel-Stadt said on Wednesday.
The marked difference in the budget can also be explained with special factors – primarily on the revenue side: For example, tax returns were 276 million francs above expectations. A total of 130 million francs of this amount was provided by legal entities, 71 million francs by natural entities, and 70 million francs through wealth taxes.
Investments according to plan
The canton also received an additional 41 million francs from direct Federal taxes, and 16 million francs by the national bank were not accounted for in the budget. However, there were also expenses of 18 million francs for the sanitation of waste deposits and 15 million francs for social welfare.
The financial result was far higher than expected as well: Primarily due to a revaluation of estates in financial wealth, there was a surplus of 119 million francs – of a total of 173 million francs.
All in all, the canton of Basel-Stadt was able to pay almost three quarters of its investments for 2016 (373 million francs in sum – it had expected 432 million) out of its own resources. The self-financing ratio reached 72,1 per cent. The year before, it had been at 123 per cent.