No need to suspend non-urgent infrastructure projects due to floods
Ljubljana, 17 August - Although Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek had announced that certain infrastructure projects would have to be suspended to give priority to repair work after devastating floods, the Infrastructure Ministry told the STA on Thursday this would not be necessary. It seems that enough construction machinery is available.
Škofja Loka
Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek visits the Škofja Loka area, north-west of Ljubljana, to inspect the damage done to transport infrastructure by the floods.
Photo: Tinkara Zupan/STA
File photo
The ministry, the DARS motorway company, the state-owned engineering company DRI, the Infrastructure Agency and Slovenian Railways decided at a crisis meeting on 6 August to suspend all non-essential investments in roads and railways, so that all construction machinery could be dispatched to the flood-hit areas.
But works on re-establishing road and other connections have been progressing well and enough machinery is available, so no construction projects or ongoing investments will need to be stopped, the ministry said today. Minister Bratušek expressed optimism that this will be the case a few days ago.
After visiting flood-hit areas immediately after the disaster struck, Bratušek announced that priorities in terms of investments would be changed as repair work needed to be done first, and that certain projects would be suspended until then.
Less than two weeks ago, Slovenia was hit by the worst natural disaster to date. Massive rainfall caused floods and landslides that devastated two-thirds of the country, leaving behind heavily damaged roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Many people lost their homes and six people lost their lives.