SLOVAK PM Mikuláš Dzurinda will form a committee to plan renewal of forests in the High Tatra Mountains, the daily SME wrote. Large swaths of forests were destroyed in windstorms November 19. Dzurinda will chair the committee.
The PM said he will make the best out of the disaster by focusing on ways to boost tourism. He said new land plans will be drawn and new tourist facilities built.
State officials and political representatives will sit on the new committee. So far, no environmental or NGO activists have been named.
Activists are not against tourism in the Tatras, according to SME, but they propose a Tatra zone that is closed to the public.
Mikuláš Huba, from the environmental group Society for Sustainable Development, said the Tatras should be viewed foremost as a protected national park.
"That's written into law," he said. "One disaster doesn't change that."
Compiled by Martina Jurinová from press reports
TheSlovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the informationpresented in its Flash News postings.
