Less than a year has passed since the devastating storms and consequent floods hit Slovenia, and already, another disaster has struck. Although there were already very few who believed Prime Minister Robert Golob’s promises at the time that the recovery would be swift and hundreds of new houses would be built in no time, there is no one left who believes him now. Only a few days ago, he was seen posing at the opening of the first house built for flood victims, for which the state did not contribute a single euro, and now he has not allowed himself to be bothered while he is in Paris, instead sending his secretaries to go see the damage.
Once again, criticism of the slow pace of rehabilitation is being heard from the flood victims and from the mayors of the affected towns. People are still waiting – literally homeless – for the rebuilding to begin, while the top politicians are in Paris, rebuilding monuments to Tito, and restoring the Franja Partisan Hospital. The municipality of Črna na Koroškem has already warned of the difficulties in securing funding, the cumbersome bureaucratic procedures and the great psychological distress of the people – not least because of the new floods. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Robert Golob is living the dream and fighting an ideological battle.
200 million euros in damage, just 5.8 million euros in benefits
After last year’s disastrous storms, the damage to public infrastructure in the area of Črna na Koroškem alone amounted to around 200 million euros, and the municipality has so far received only 5.8 million euros from the state budget for the rehabilitation work – it received the money in October last year. This year, the municipality is expecting additional funds from the state, but it is known that these will no longer be advances, but retroactive payments.
“People have grown impatient”
“We need the finances to be provided to the contractor immediately. Instead of us having to put up the money for the rehabilitation. We simply don’t have it,” the Mayor of Črna na Koroškem warned, adding that they are constantly pointing out the need to get the work on the ground done faster than it is currently being done. “The people who are waiting have grown impatient because the work is not finished,” the Mayor pointed out.
Money for the courthouse was reallocated from the flood recovery funds
Part of the answer to the question of where the money is for the flood victims lies in the purchase of the dilapidated building that was supposed to become the new courthouse on Litijska street in Ljubljana. According to the magazine Domovina, the money for the dilapidated building was also reallocated from funds earmarked for the post-flood reconstruction. Utilities and economic infrastructure were damaged, many road, rail and communication routes were also damaged and cut off, electricity and water supplies were cut off in some places, and farmland and forests were affected. But in spite of all of that, the government decided that the purchase of an overpriced courthouse was more important.
Many houses – both last year and this year – are no longer safe to live in, and the entire hamlet of Struge is to be evicted. Let us just think back to Golob’s famous promise of houses and billions in aid, while this money is clearly not getting into the right hands. Just a few of the many critical statements that were published on the social media X in response to the current situation can be read below.
X user Marko Pavlišič pointed out that “As far as I know, only one (1) house has been constructed so far, and even that one was not paid for by the state.” Another user, Ana Novak, responded to the news that Črna na Koroškem was once again in danger of being flooded by posting a photo of Golob from Paris that reads: “First the Olympic Games, and then it will be your turn… “
A third X user wrote: “I simply cannot comprehend this anymore… If the objects were flooded last year, people should have been given the opportunity to build their homes in alternative locations. This could go on and repeat practically every year. We are growing very tired of this constant feigning of ignorance. People need to move away from these locations – and if they do not want to, then they should simply give up their right to get help.” Another user responded to this post, saying: “ One possible solution is to deepen the riverbeds. People used to dredge the riverbeds themselves when they took the sand out of them. But then the eco-terrorists came along and banned it. Today, we have rivers that are almost level with their surroundings. Then a little more rain falls, and there are floods. This is what happens when people’s common sense leaves them. But go on and keep voting for the left-wing idiots. There will only be more problems, because they are always at odds with common sense.”
A. G.
