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Simon: Drinking Water in Zitny Ostrov More Important than Crude Oil
Thursday 17 December 2009 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, December 17 (TASR) - The planned construction of the crude oil pipeline through Zitny Ostrov in south Slovakia is not only a thorn in the side of Most-Hid party, but also of environmentalist and water-management organisations, said Zsolt Simon, an independent MP and member of Most-Hid on Thursday.
Simon, former minister of agriculture, was speaking at the "What's in the Slovak public interest? Protection of drinking water supplies or endangering it for Austrian interests?" conference in Bratislava.
"It is of greater interest for Slovakia to protect its own drinking water supplies rather than (promote) the construction of the pipeline," said Simon. According to him, there are several technical solutions for the pipeline, but the route via Zitny Ostrov is the only possibility nevertheless.
The Slovak Government claims there are other possibilities that could be realised, therefore Simon calls on Economy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek to present them to the public. Most-Hid representatives also plan to turn to Slovak MEPs to open this topic for discussions in the European Parliament.
Non-governmental organisation Greenpeace would also welcome a petition on this matter, opening it up to the public rather than just expert groups. "Drinking water is a strategic raw material just like crude oil is. The crude oil pipeline won't increase Slovak energy security, therefore it is wiser not to build it at all," said Greenpeace member Katerina Ventusova.
Simon pointed out that the Government has been trying since the beginning of the year to build the pipeline, adding that several pieces of enabling legislative that would allow the project to be carried out were adopted only via footnotes to bills. According to him, a decision pertaining to environmental issues adopted by the Government on Wednesday would allow the pipeline to be built, even though an environmental impact study recommended not building it.
Economy Ministry spokesman Branislav Zvara responded earlier that, in total, four routes for the pipeline are still being looked at and no final decision has been made. Zvara claimed that the ministry does take environmental aspects into account as well.
Simon said all these analyses are not important, since the Austrians only count on a project that would necessitate having the pipeline go via Zitny Ostrov.
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