The board of the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) is calling on Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (New Unity) and Finance Minister Arvils Ašeradens (New Unity) to initiate disciplinary proceedings in order to assess those responsible and the potential losses related to the unfinished Rail Baltica railway bridge pillar in the River Daugava, according to a statement issued by ZZS to the media.
ZZS points out that Article 18 of the Law on Disciplinary Liability of Civil Servants stipulates that the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have the authority to initiate disciplinary proceedings in cases involving actions with budgetary funds that are not in compliance with legal acts.
According to the ZZS board, the Rail Baltica project is being implemented in a non-transparent and publicly incomprehensible manner. This, they argue, applies not only to the unfinished bridge pillar in the Daugava, but also to construction works already started near Riga Airport.
The political party is urging the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister to initiate a disciplinary investigation in order to clarify how a situation arose in which a bridge pillar was built in the Daugava that now has to be conserved, requiring additional funding, as well as to identify the damages caused by such ill-considered decisions.
ZZS believes that the public has the right to receive a detailed and understandable explanation
of how the Rail Baltica project is being advanced, and to be assured that poorly thought-out decisions lead to concrete accountability rather than additional bills for taxpayers.
As previously reported, the Ministry of Transport has instructed Eiropas dzelzceļa līnijas (EDzL) to submit cost calculations by the 23rd of January for the conservation of the Rail Baltica bridge pillar in the Daugava and for suspending the remaining scope of the Riga railway hub. Conservation is required because construction works have been halted and the structure must be protected, while the resumption of bridge construction is planned only after 2030.
The Prime Minister has stated that responsibility must be taken for the unfinished pier and that an investigation into the project’s management is under way. EDzL has previously confirmed that the pillar will be conserved this year.
The total cost of the Rail Baltica project in the Baltic states is estimated to reach up to €23.8 billion.
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