Referendum Review; Hospital Area Construction Disrupts Surgery; Public Grills Discussed For Kleinbasel; Riverfront Express Tram Construction Referendum Gets A "NO"

News For 26 September 2017

Eligible voters in Switzerland chose to reject a referendum item which would have reformed the pension system.  The Federal government, which had endorsed the reforms, sought to raise VAT taxes and the retirement age of women by one year, in order to address the needs of an aging Swiss population.  The referendum failed when approximately 52% of voters said "No", effectively kicking the economic can down the road for future generations to deal with.  In more positive news, more than 75,000 Swiss expatriates living outside the country were able to vote in the referendum electronically.  Although Swiss cantons had made electronic voting possible in previous years, this was the first time again since 2015 when electronic voting was suspended for unspecified reasons.

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Since 2013, the ETH has been building a new Biosystems Science center close to the Unispital and Kinderspital in Basel. The building ground turned out to be a lot more uneven than anticipated, so since the middle of July, the construction workers have been drilling huge planks into the ground. The work being done has been causing intense vibrations and minor quakes in the neighborhoods surrounding the construction site, making it impossible for people to conduct business, practice musical instruments, and even sleep in peace. Since the site is so close to the hospital, the movement was also felt multiple times in operating rooms, even disrupting operations.

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Every year more people show up during the long, warm days of summer at Basel's Kleinbasel riverfront to socialize, enjoy a swim and of course BBQ!  Of course, this means, that without the presence of public barbecue stations, common throughout Basel's park and forest systems, people bring ever increasing amounts of disposable barbecues and garbage.  Salome Hofer, a member of Basel's governing council has been seeking a solution, including installing electric grills which, in addition to being available for public use, also reduce the amount of smoke generated when used.  However, the plan has its detractors in the government as well, those that say the cost is too high when taking maintenance and cleaning into account, and those that represent the interests of the commercial Buvettes that fear losing food service business.

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This past Sunday was another voting Sunday in Switzerland. In addition to the national votes on pension and nutrition, there were quite a few cantonal decisions being made. One of these was the referendum on a tram line to go up the Margarethenstich. The plan was to put in tram tracks branching off from Dorenbach for an express tram line to the train station. 56.87 % of the voting population said no to the project, especially Binningen, where 71.58% voted no, since they would be affected by the construction directly.