Taraba: State Will Take Care of Cleaning and Dredging of Danube Alone

Bratislava, July 17 (TASR) - The state will take care of cleaning and deepening the Danube riverbed at its own expense, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) stated at a press conference on Wednesday, adding that the original project for deepening the Danube for about €150 million was cancelled after he joined the ministry and that the state will take care of the Danube's flow on its own and with its own capacities. "We've terminated the tender, which was supposed to provide for the Danube to be dredged for approximately €150 million. I decided at that time that we'll build the basic infrastructure on our own and with the capacities we have. I'm pleased that from a project that would have cost €150 million initially we were able to find a solution that secured technology worth €20 million to take care of the sediment at the bottom of the Danube, which will not only clean the Danube, but above all will deepen the riverbed so that traffic on the Danube will be smooth," said Taraba. The Environment Ministry will take care of the Danube in cooperation with the Transport Ministry and Slovak Water Management Company (SVP). Taraba said that the sediment that is deposited in the Danube is already so dense that it threatens shipping in certain months of the year. "But now we have the technology, which will be owned by the state, will be on the Danube River permanently and constantly to take care of this water course," added Taraba. Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee) confirmed this cooperation, noting that it's important to preserve the Danube as a strategic traffic artery. am/df