For 4 years - 500 km of roads
Adelina Marini, June 10, 2009
The government has built more than 500 km of roads for the 4 years of government, the report of the government shows. The construction of parts of the everlasting highway "Thrace" from Plodovitovo to Stara Zagora and from Karnobat and Burgas have been mentioned in the report. In these many kilometers are also included the parts of the "Maritsa" highway from Harmanli to Lyubimets and from Svilengrad to Kapitan Andreevo and from the "Struma" highway from Daskalovo to Dupnitsa and the "Hemus" highway from Belokopitovo to Shumen. But no word in the report about the scandals, discovered by the "Capital" weekly in the beginning of last year in the road agency because of which the European commission froze a lot of euro funds for Bulgaria and Bulgaria became more popular in the foreign media in the EU as the most corrupt country in the world. Neither word about how much these kilometres cost and whether they were built in good quality.
In spite the fact that the prime minister said at today's presentation of the report that the government has shown intolerance toward corruption and conflict of interest, we have to remember that it took quite a lot of time of the current government to release the director of the road agency Veselin Gheorghiev for whom there were significant data that he has patronized the companies of his 2 brothers. On top of this the prime minister, when firing Gheorghiev, thanked him for the good work done so far. Against this background the statement that: "There never was a political umbrella over anyone" and "there are ministers fired only on the basis of suspicion without any evidence" sound somewhat not in place.
In the report you won't find an admission about the frozen money on most of the pre-accession programmes but you will find underlined that the government has managed to convince the Commission to unblock 115 mn euro under ISPA programme.
One of the most criticised spheres in Bulgaria and by the Commission is the judicial system, but in the report it is under the title "Accelerated judicial reform, guaranteeing quick, effective, transparent and fair justice". Under this title the following achievements are enlisted: reform in the trade registration and the Trade register legislation, the creation of 28 administrative courts in the country, the Law for conflict of interest which was initially endorsed in a way that everyone liked - the society in Bulgaria and the Commission but after the first intermediate report of the Commission in the beginning of February, the Parliament started immediate reform and cut most of the important articles defining the conflict of interest.
And more:744 organised crime groups have been neutralized and 111 drug channelled have been interrupted. But no word for the introduction of the so called medical trials that led to the postponement of tens of trials of high interest because of medical reasons. Nothing is mentioned about the high level corruption which is also one of the most permanent criticism of the Commission since it writes reports for Bulgaria. Instead the prime minister appealed: "put some more efforts and see the statistics of the ordered murders, so called in Bulgaria and make your own conclusion in which period there were the biggest number of murders. Those who today focus mostly and talk about how they will guarantee the security of the Bulgarian citizens they have direct relation and responsibility for the weak results in that period when there were the most ordered murders". The prime minister added that he can't sleep well until there is even 1 such killing and warned that because of the economic crisis there are already premises for an increase of this type of criminality.
But there was no opportunity for us to ask how many of all those ordered murders, notwithstanding when they were committed, have been uncovered? How many have been convicted? Why the Penal code has been changed in a way that gives a chance people like the pimp Vanko-1 became innocent?
The report of the government, called short, contains quite a lot of achievements in the field of the protection against natural disasters and other wrecks. In fact the report of the deputy prime minister, responsible for dealing with the disasters Emel Etem was amazingly short but we couldn't ask what happened after all with the money for the damages from the floods in the last couple of years? Why, in the end of the day, it proved that the deputy prime minister Etem constantly blamed for the unfinished work the local authorities and even wanted changes in the legislations and in the same time her ministry absorbed large amounts of the budgetary surplus?
Dizzy successes have also been reported in the field of agriculture, the water field and everything for which has been written and talked about in the last 4 years. But no answers to the questions for the unfinished tasks. Instead the prime minister reassured that this is the most writing government. And before I finished my thought that he was about to start talking about the numerous warning letters exchanged between the government and the Commission, he said that he meant that there are many writers in it: the prime minister wrote a book, called 'Because we are socialists", followed by the deputy prime minister and minister of education Daniel Valchev with his "To love out of spite" and the book of the minister of state administration Nikolay Vassilev "Energy", presented recently.
And a call on the media - to report the achievements properly and not only to criticize. That's what we do - we report properly, even not quite enough, but it is important people to remember more - not only yesterday but also the day before, last year or the year before last year. A report that has been officially announced to be directed to the parliamentary elections is not enough to make us like or reject someone.