Road building gets less bumpy

A committee led by MP Kristýna Kočí (of the Public Affairs, or VV, party) including the Regional Development and Environment and Transport ministries is preparing a change to construction laws to reduce the administration procedure for transport infrastructure.

The government wants to speed up the process and reduce the cost of building public roads, which are infamous for being the most expensive in Europe, and eliminate the influence of environmental groups, which often block construction even in the middle of the building stage.

"A change in scope of local construction administrations and a change in the division of local planning authorities to reflect the principle of 'one authority, one decision' will take place," Kočí said.  "Furthermore, we plan to refine the system of authorities involved, so it is always clear who is in charge of what at what stage."

She explained the key part of the simplification process is to enable a wide range of participants in the land-use approval process but to narrow the amount of the subsequent proceedings once the land-use approval has been decided.

Kočí says another goal of this bill is alleviating the difficulty that arises when activists attempt to promote their group by preventing construction at a given site when, Kočí says, they usually have no personal interest in the construction location.

Green Party leader Ondřej Liška, however, warns the efforts by the government to simplify confiscating private property and to limit the possibility of a citizen interjecting in the construction proceedings pose a risk that, for the sake of a state project, citizens' rights will be limited.

"We fundamentally disagree with the restriction of citizens' rights and the rights of initiatives in the permit procedures," Liška said. "Initiatives are not the problem, but rather the incompetent and arrogant conduct of the state authorities - they are in reality responsible for prolonging the construction process."

Liška added, "The argument that the citizens and initiatives protract the process is completely biased and not based on the facts, and its aim is only to manipulate public opinion."

"Widespread mystification that NGOs block highway construction proves untrue when we look at concrete examples," said Martin Skalský, project coordinator with Arnika, an NGO that works to protect the environment. "The D8 highway construction was complicated by state officials. There is no single reason citizens should not express their views in construction procedures. Quite on the contrary, citizens are without a doubt those who should have a say, if only because trucks might pass their houses on a daily basis very soon."

According to the Regional Development Ministry, the new construction law bill does not change the fundamentals of the already existing law, but it specifies wording of some regulations to avoid confusion.

"The current complicated process of permitting and placement of the roads is due to the ill-arranged structure of the authorities involved. Their authority is not only an administrative nightmare, but also a place where money can uncontrollably disappear," said Jana Jabůrková, ministry spokeswoman.

Another part of the reasoning behind the bill is to give more power to bigger cities in order to unburden small and midsize villages for which the current system poses a huge burden. It would mean more travel to get building permits, but officials hope for significant acceleration in the process.

This year has been an uneasy one full of budget cuts, which have heavily influenced road construction. Four new roads have been put on hold, and next year, the Transport Ministry plans to cut its budget 35 percent, which will amount to 33 billion Kč.

Klára Jiřičná can be reached at
kjiricna@praguepost.com