Socialist councillor slams Budapest mayor over projects

Budapest, April 29 (MTI) – Csaba Horváth, a councillor for the opposition Socialists in the Municipal Council, criticised Budapest’s mayor for his handling of several large-scale projects.

“István Tarlós does not at all understand Budapest; he views the city as a compilation of regulations and not as a community of residents,” Horvath told a press conference on Friday.

Tarlós has failed to reach agreement with the central government on financing the Budapest transport company (BKV) over the past six years of his tenure, said Horváth, who was deputy mayor between 2006 and 2009.

As regards the revamp of the metro line 3, Horvath criticised the concept for not including an extension for which Budapest could have drawn down European Union funding. He called for a contract on the renovation’s financing to be concluded as soon as possible to prevent the government from “backing out of the project in the meantime”.

Horváth called for new taxi regulations to be “thrown out” and replaced with a set of rules by which drivers can provide customers cheap and comfortable services.

He also criticised the general assembly’s decision to cut funding for the internationally celebrated Budapest Festival Orchestra from last year’s 260 million forints (EUR 840,000) to 60 million forints. “With the decision, the operation of Budapest’s most popular cultural export product has been jeopardised,” said Horvath, noting that as a result, the orchestra had already been forced to cancel one of its international tours.

Photo: MTI

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