North-south routes a priority for Polish gov't
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
18.11.2016 07:37
Jerzy Szmit, deputy Infrastructure Minister, has announced that the government will focus on north-south roads, which he argues will benefit Poles more than the previous focus on west-east routes.
Photo: Flickr.com/magro_kr
Szmit accused the previous Civic Platform government, which was swept from office in the October 2015 parliamentary elections, of having built west-east roads to benefit Poland’s neighbours rather than the country's residents.
He said that roads such as the Via Baltica and the Via Carpatia, both international north-south routes through Poland, would be a priority for the government.
Szmit added that since last year’s elections, the Law and Justice government has already signed 25 road construction contracts, worth a total of PLN 11.7 billion (EUR 2.6 billion).
The ongoing National Road Construction Program for 2014-2023 is estimated to cost a total of PLN 200 billion (EUR 45 billion).
Szmit said: “They [the previous government] have left the task of financing it to us and are today asking how we intend to deal with this problem.”
However, former Civic Platform Infrastructure Minister Cezary Grabarczyk defended his record, saying: "We have prepared a programme which you are implementing."
(sl/rg)
Source: PAP