THREE ministers of the government of Smer held a joint press conference regarding the logging of forests at the Koliba hill, a lucrative location in Bratislava.
The unauthorised logging of trees at Koliba was reported earlier in December and prompted the residents of the area to protest in front of the Agriculture Ministry on December 12.
“We believe it to be an illegal logging, therefore since the first moment we learned about it, we’ve cooperated with the police, with the respective environment office and the environment inspection,” Marek Tettinger, the spokesman for the Nové Mesto district of Bratislava said as reported by the Sme daily.
The respective forest office re-classified the lands where the logging took place, from “forest” to “other area”. The land has been owned by three private owners since 2010, before the end of the first Fico government.
The respective office meanwhile ceased to exist, and its head, Ján Horvát, who signed the documents about reclassifying the area, is unavailable.
On December 17, Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák, Environment Minister Peter Žiga, and Agriculture Minister Ľubomír Jahnátek publicly condemned logging. Kaliňák claimed the logging was probably based on forged documents.
Source: Sme
Compiled by Michaela Terenzani from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
