Ministry of Transport and Water Management (Netherlands)

The Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management was a Dutch ministry responsible for water management, public and private transport and infrastructure. It is now part of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.

Responsibilities

The motto of the ministry was: "familiar with water, progressive with connections". The ministry had two main responsibilities:

Regulation and management of transport of people and goods via roads, trains, boats and airplanes
Water management by water works, such as dikes, polders and channels

Organisation

The ministry was headed by one minister and one state secretary. The ministry's main office was located in the centre of The Hague. The civil service was headed by a secretary general and a deputy secretary general, who headed a system of four directorates general:

Passenger transport
Freight transport of goods and civil aviation
Water Affairs
Public Works and Water Management

There were two autonomous agencies:

Inspectorate for Transport, Public Works and Water Management
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute

An important other institution involved in water management in the Netherlands are the Water boards, which manage local and regional water works. These are independent institutions chosen by land owners and citizens.
The ministry owned shares in:

NS Railinfratrust BV
Groningen Airport Eelde NV
NV Luchtvaartterrein Texel
NV Western Scheldt Tunnel
Nederlandse Omroep-zendermaatschappij NV
NV Luchthaven Maastricht

History

The Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management is one of the oldest in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1809 as the Ministry of Water Management, which existed in several different forms until 1831, when it was integrated into the Ministry of the Interior. In 1877, Water Management, Trade and Industry became a separate ministry again. In 1906 Water Management became a separate ministry. After the World War II, Transport was added to the responsibilities of the ministry.

Ministers

Since 1967 the following politicians have been minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management: