LMP, Socialists oppose Liget project, tree-felling

Budapest, April 22 (MTI) – The green opposition LMP is up in arms about tree-felling in Budapest backed by the ruling Fidesz party and the city council, the party’s representative in the general assembly said on Friday.

“Fidesz is an enemy to every tree and indirectly to every Budapest resident,” Antal Csárdi told a press conference.

Some 600 trees are threatened due to a planned development project, the Liget project, in the City Park and more than a 100 trees have been chopped down in the area in front of the university of public administration, while in addition 1,500 trees are in danger in northern Budapest’s Romai embankment, he said.

Only 6 square metres of green space exists per Budapest resident and this cannot guarantee the right to a healthy environment, he said. If the green areas in the city are further reduced, Budapest will become unsuitable for living in, he added.

LMP local council representative in Budapest’s 6th district László Heltai said the future of the City Park is an important issue to discuss on Earth Day. The new buildings planned to be built will destroy a third of the park and the information on leaflets distributed by the project company Varosliget is misleading and false, he added.

The Socialist party does not support the Liget project, Csaba Tóth, a lawmaker for the party, told MTI. He said that contrary to reports, the Zugló local council on Thursday had not voted support for the project, it simply gave district mayor Gergely Karacsony a mandate for talks with Varosliget for the purpose of learning more details about it. He said the City Park should remain a high-priority green area in the city which requires upgrades, but not ones where “buildings are crowding over the park”. Local councillors of an alliance of the Socialists and the Together for Zuglo group voted with Fidesz on the proposal to sit down to talks with Varosliget Zrt. All other councillors voted against this proposal.

Technical director of the company Attila Sághi told the press that the City Park needs to be revamped and more green areas are indeed needed. Detailed plans will be presented in mid-May so that everybody can rest assured that more car-free zones and green areas will be built, he added.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Gergely Karácsony said he had vetoed the district assembly’s support for the Liget project. Co-leader of the opposition Dialogue for Hungary (PM) party, Karácsony said he strongly disagrees with the council’s decision, which he said is just a “fatal misunderstanding” and he hopes the assembly would later change its mind. “I will not give my name to any of this,” Karácsony said, adding that many councillors who voted ‘yes’ on Thursday had campaigned to save the City Park before the elections.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters