Suspending reconstruction work at Bratislava Castle is the only possible solution at the moment, as “we've been pointing out all along that it constitutes squandering of public resources,” said opposition SDKÚ vice chairman Ivan Mikloš on May 7, as reported by the TASR newswire.
Mikloš was responding to statements made by Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška earlier in the day that a decision whether the makeover of Bratislava Castle will proceed according to the schedule is not yet final.
Mikloš noted that when the decision on raising the amount of funds for the reconstruction from €39.8 million to €126.1 million was being adopted, it was already clear that Slovakia would be hit by the economic crisis.
“We view these expenses as unnecessary now,” Mikloš said, adding that, on top of that, the expenses are inflated and attest to the fact that the tender competition was not in order. He pointed out that the tender was won by Váhostav, a company co-owned by entrepreneur Juraj Široký who he claimed is a backer of the ruling coalition’s senior partner, Smer, TASR wrote.
In response to Paška's reproach that the former government did not invest a single crown into the reconstruction of this natural cultural monument, Mikloš said that the former government was, unlike the current cabinet, very cautious about spending money. At the same time, it undertook key economic reforms, cranked up the country's economy and drew new foreign investors, Mikloš said. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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