Editing Henk van Hetten

{{Infobox person
| name = Henk van Hetten
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1963|7|23|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Paramaribo]], [[Suriname]]
| occupation = {{hlist|Construction contractor|Crawler-crane operator}}
| years_active = 1975–present
| era = [[Vriend Era]]
| known_for = Founder of [[Paramarbo]]
| height = {{convert|1.73|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| father = [[Wijnand van Hetten]]
| relatives = {{hlist|[[Ewald van Hetten]] (uncle)|[[Rinaldo van Hetten]] (cousin)}}
| family = [[Van Hetten family]]
}}

'''Henk van Hetten''' (born 23 July 1963) is a Surinamese construction contractor and crawler-crane operator. He founded [[Paramarbo]] in [[Paramaribo]] on 1 October 1990 and continues to operate machinery on the company's construction sites. On 10 April 2026, his father, [[Wijnand van Hetten]], transferred the Van Hetten family dump site to him. The property subsequently became Paramarbo's construction yard.

== Early life ==

Henk van Hetten was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, on 23 July 1963. His father, Wijnand van Hetten, operated a family dump site in the city. Wijnand's older brother, [[Ewald van Hetten]], worked at the same site and operated its cranes and excavators.

Van Hetten began helping at the dump site in 1975, when he was 12. He initially sorted reusable materials before taking on basic equipment maintenance. Wijnand taught him construction work, while Ewald introduced him to heavy machinery.

Van Hetten completed secondary school and obtained a vocational qualification in motor-vehicle mechanics before 1981. He never worked professionally as a mechanic. In 1980, aged 17, Ewald allowed him to operate a used Kobe Steel 10KT truck crane. Van Hetten used the crane to load scrap and reusable construction materials. He later progressed to the dump site's Kobelco 300-series lattice-boom crawler crane.

From 1981 to 1984, Van Hetten worked as a parcel courier because it was the easiest employment available to him. In 1984, he moved alone to [[Rotterdam]], [[Netherlands]], to gain further construction experience. He worked for a Dutch construction company on precast concrete piling and steel sheet-pile installation. During his six years in Rotterdam, he completed SOMA training and obtained qualifications for operating mobile piling installations and mobile cranes.

== Career ==

Van Hetten returned to Paramaribo in March 1990 with the intention of establishing his own construction company. He borrowed machinery from Wijnand and Ewald's dump site while arranging his first contracts. Wijnand and Ewald continued running the dump site separately and did not join the new company.

Van Hetten formally founded Paramarbo on 1 October 1990. Its first major project was a group of private houses in Paramaribo that required pile foundations. The company later began constructing small commercial buildings and developed a permanent workforce of 12 employees.

In 1996, Paramarbo purchased a used Sumitomo LS-118RH-5 crawler crane configured for pile-driving work. It was the first major machine owned outright by the company. Paramarbo acquired a Kobelco CKE800 crawler crane in 2006. The CKE800 became the crane most associated with Van Hetten's work.

In 2012, the company acquired a Kobelco BM700HD-2. Van Hetten still operates the BM700HD-2 on selected Paramarbo projects. [[Patrick van Hetten (UFO mechanic)]] has occasionally assisted him on construction jobs, particularly when machinery required field repairs.<ref name="patrick-construction"/>

Before 2026, Paramarbo obtained reusable building materials from Wijnand's dump site. Corrugated metal sheets and structural steel were retained when suitable for construction. Timber and concrete components were also recovered when they remained structurally usable. Van Hetten summarizes this practice with the phrase "afval is ook goud" ("trash is also gold").

On 10 April 2026, Wijnand retired from management of the dump site and transferred the property to Van Hetten.<ref name="wijnand-transfer"/> Van Hetten incorporated it into Paramarbo as the company's construction yard. The yard continues to accept household waste and construction debris and is used to store machinery, structural steel, timber and other recovered building materials.

Van Hetten's cousin, [[Rinaldo van Hetten]], remained at the property after the transfer. Rinaldo continues to operate the Hitachi WS100 wheel loader on selected days and carries out its maintenance and repairs himself.<ref name="rinaldo-career"/>

== Personal life ==

Van Hetten lives in Paramaribo. He has never married and has no children. Dutch is his primary language, and he also speaks [[Sranan Tongo]].

Van Hetten has a calm and deliberate manner. He speaks and walks slowly and rarely becomes angry. He smokes regularly. At work, he usually wears a faded Kobelco shirt and orange work trousers. Orange is his preferred colour and serves as a personal signature in his clothing and equipment.

In 2012, Patrick van Hetten taught him to pilot Van Hetten [[unidentified flying object|UFOs]]. Van Hetten occasionally uses the craft for recreational flights around Suriname.

Van Hetten drives an orange 2006 [[Jeep Wrangler]]. He rebuilt the vehicle during the year he acquired it. Its three-cylinder diesel engine was assembled from modified parts recovered from several discarded engines. Van Hetten fabricated the engine mounts and adapted the drivetrain himself. He also lined parts of the interior with scrap-metal panels.

== See also ==
* [[Paramarbo]]
* [[Wijnand van Hetten]]
* [[Ewald van Hetten]]
* [[Rinaldo van Hetten]]
* [[Patrick van Hetten (UFO mechanic)]]
* [[Van Hetten family]]
* [[Van Hetten family members]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="patrick-construction">"[[Patrick van Hetten (UFO mechanic)#Career|Career]]". ''Patrick van Hetten (UFO mechanic)''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="wijnand-transfer">"[[Wijnand van Hetten#Career|Career]]". ''Wijnand van Hetten''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
<ref name="rinaldo-career">"[[Rinaldo van Hetten#Career|Career]]". ''Rinaldo van Hetten''. ''Vrienden Universe Wiki''.</ref>
}}

[[Category:Van Hetten family]]

[[Category:Van Hetten family members]]

[[Category:1963 births]]

[[Category:People]]

[[Category:Living people]]

[[Category:Surinamese people]]

[[Category:Vriend Era]]