Socialists call on Budapest mayor to recover transport company money from government

Budapest, March 8 (MTI) – The opposition Socialists called on Mayor István Tarlós to recover money taken away by the government from Budapest transport company BKV in order to prevent its collapse.

Csaba Horvath, the party’s Budapest representative, told a press conference on Wednesday that unless a wage dispute involving BKV is resolved imminently public transport in the entire city could collapse. A collective contract was cancelled in 2011 and employee payments have since fallen by an annual 10 percent, he added.

He accused Tarlós of not doing his job properly, saying that “he is hard on employees but … pulls his punches when it comes to the government”.

Budapest residents pay more than daily 20 billion forints (EUR 64.5m) in taxes and the government still does not pay a decent salary to BKV employees or provide decent services to Budapest residents, Horváth said. Whereas in 2011 the government allocated 80 billion forints to BKV, last year it was only in the region of 30 billion forints, which is the reason why there is no money for development, maintenance and its workforce, he added.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI