Three days ahead of the local elections in Slovakia to take place on November 15, the government held an away-from-home session in Ubľa in the Prešov region, a village with a population of 800 people whose mayor Nadežda Sirková is a member of the ruling Smer party. On November 12, the government approved spending of €2 million on activities aimed at improving the socio-economic situation in 40 towns and villages in the districts of Prešov, Humenné, Medzilaborce, Snina and Stropkov in northeastern Slovakia.
The largest part of the sum – €443,000 – will go for the reconstruction of the town sports hall in Snina. The Teaching Hospital in Prešov will receive €350,000 for replacing windows and constructing barrier-free access to the main building, the TASR newswire wrote. Prešov is headed by independent mayor Pavel Hagyari. Another €350,000 will be given to the Prešov regional authority, headed by Governor Peter Chudík from Smer, for constructing an ice hockey training facility.
The village of Zboj (with a population of 350) in the Snina district, headed by Mayor Ladislav Ladomirjak (also from Smer), has been allocated €177,000 for anti-flood adjustments to Bigovský brook. Ubľa itself will receive a total of €185,000, of which €100,000 should be spent on reconstructing the local primary school and nursery school, and the rest for medical centre, external gym and the reconstruction of St Nicolas’ Church, the SITA newswire wrote.
As part of more general measures, the government at its away session also approved tasks for individual ministries pertaining to developing transport infrastructure, supporting employment, tackling natural disasters and seeking investors for the Prešov region.
The original purpose for the amount to be spent on improving the conditions in the east was €2 million, the Sme daily wrote. Prime Minister Robert Fico specified, as quoted by Sme, that the village of Volica in the Medzilaborce district will get €350,000 for an aqua-duct. The government also plans to support the renovations of municipal buildings, including schools, bus stops, and monuments of two churches, according to SITA.
(Source: TASR, SITA, Sme)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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