Maraaz 
Yes, there was dancing and singing outside on the terrace of Luden on the Plein in The Hague on Wednesday evening. If anyone is fed up and ashamed to death, it is owner John Prins. “I have warned three times in vain to sit down and turn off the music. It took no more than six minutes and then I take it well. ”
According to the entrepreneur, the police did not intervene, as is said. “I myself went to police officers on the Square,” says Prins, who is a broken man this Thursday morning.
Prins was the first in The Hague to rebuild his business, including his terrace, during the first wave of corona infections, to allow guests to sit 1.5 meters away. With up to four people in one unit. He is now the owner of the café-restaurant where a corona party is celebrated on the last day before the closure of the catering industry. “It really didn’t work out that way. With me? No way. It’s really more nuanced. I take my responsibility, of course. I am so ashamed.” The criticism of the other catering entrepreneurs on the Plein is not mild on Thursday morning.
Prins walks through the evening in chronological order. “With us, guests are sitting at 1.5 meters with a maximum of four people outside, in a unit that you cannot move. I can have forty people on my terrace for the business and then I have forty places at the kiosk on the Plein, which has eighty people. All according to the rules and that’s how I’ve been working since June. Also with the music. I’ve had music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights since June. People have to stay put. They usually do, otherwise you remind them to stay in their seats. That also happened yesterday, three times. When it kept going, the music was turned off and the story was over. There has also been no intervention by the police as said. I went to the police on the Plein myself and then two police officers walked with me. ”
“Guys, it’s done now”
How could it go so wrong? “DJ Outsiders put on a song on which people would stand and dance. You then remind them to sit down three times. There was no stopping it. I immediately had the music turned off and said, “Guys, it’s done now.” That was around 9:30 PM. All in all, that took six minutes and then I take it well. But if you turn the music off, you can’t control it at all. Then people no longer listen at all and eighty people have to pay. The girls from the ministry are afraid that people will run away without paying and then you will get walked. ”
DJ outsiders denies putting on music. When asked if he was running, he responds via WhatsApp: “Nah, I was just there, hope nothing.”
Prins continues: “Don’t you think I am fed up with it? I am ashamed of the municipality. Also towards the catering police, with whom I have had very good contact for years, also during this corona crisis. After the video was published on Twitter, I immediately received an app from my contact at the catering police: “John, I am deeply disappointed in you”. I am myself. I take my responsibility and I took it last night. ”
Many interpretations of the film are incorrect according to Prins. “There was no party tent at all. They are umbrellas with sails. We’ve had it for weeks. If you are going to film and zoom in from afar, the image will collapse completely. That gives a distorted picture. But again, it can’t be what happened. ”
No masks
Stories about Prins and his business are now circulating on social media. For example, he would forbid employees to wear masks. “I don’t forbid them, but a mouth mask is not my preference because I think the facial expression is important when you welcome someone into the business. We’ve thought of those clear visors, but that doesn’t work. Now everyone is talking about transparent masks, that would be better. But none of that is necessary anymore, because we will be locked for four weeks. ”
Prins denies that there have been complaints before about his case in corona time by other pub owners on the Square. “They have never complained to me. We are in a group app with all entrepreneurs at the Plein. So nonsense. ”
And then the building in which he is located would also be owned by catering magnate Laurens Meijer, who was arrested against the corona measures during protests at the Malieveld. By doing so, the suggestion is made that there is resistance to the corona measures. “You see, what idiotic stories are now being released. I take the measures very seriously and the building belongs to Urban Invest in The Hague, like almost all the buildings on the Plein. ”
