Amsterdam - The Dutch parliament is soon to hold a new debate about a luxury holiday villa Crown Prince Willem Alexander and his wife Maxima are building in the impoverished southern African country of Mozambique, reports said Tuesday. The second debate about the prince's villa within a month was called following a report published last week in the daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad.
The royal couple are among a small group of wealthy investors involved in developing a small luxury estate that includes 220 villas and a five-star holiday resort on the Machangulo peninsula in southern Mozambique.
NRC Handelsblad's report focused on the foundation established in June with the aim of representing the prince's interests in the enterprise.
The newspaper reported that the foundation's chairman of the board also invested personally in the project.
This raised further questions about the prince's continued involvement in the holiday resort, which in recent months already caused a storm of criticism among even the staunchest supporters of the Netherlands' monarchy.
Building a luxury villa in one of the world's poorest countries which only last year saw more than 100,000 of its citizens displaced due to heavy flooding, would not befit a future head of state, the critics argue. Further criticism stems from the fact that the country is politically unstable.
On Sunday, Alexander Pechtold, the leader of the liberal left opposition party D'66 party, publicly appealed upon the royals to cancel their plans.
Last month, anonymous top civil servants referred to the prince as a "spoiled child."
The chairman of the so-called Orange associations - volunteer organizations that coordinate festivities marking royal events - also criticized the royal couple's Mozambique plans.
In September, Dutch media reported builder Panorama had claimed more land from local landowners for the luxury resort than previously agreed.
Mozambican army intervention could not prevent a shoot-out between Panorama's builders and locals.
Both the prince and property developer Panorama have said the project would benefit the local population, since the construction of schools and a local clinic formed part of the project.
Critics however have expressed doubt, saying nearby villages would still not have electricity, water or sanitation facilities.
