PS: Government to Render Environmental Police Dysfunctional

Bratislava, May 6 (TASR) - The opposition Progressive Slovakia party on Monday warned that the government is about to render the environmental police dysfunctional, which, according to the party, will lead to the environment being destroyed without punishment. MEP Martin Hojsik, who ran for PS, called in this vein on Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) and relevant ministers to ensure that if the police are reorganised, the environmental branch will be preserved with its current powers, staffing and technical equipment. According to Progressive Slovakia, most of the environmental police officers may return to regional and districts police departments. "There, they will formally deal with environmental issues, but in reality they are in danger of dealing with many other problems," noted Hojsik. "There is a threat that if someone illegally dumps toxic waste on your land, cuts down a protected forest or destroys a water source, there will be no one to investigate. And such criminals will continue to merrily destroy the environment, which belongs to all of us," warned Hojsik. According to the MEP, the environmental police are directly linked to the national recovery plan, and Slovakia is at risk of having to return resources from the plan. He noted that a new European directive on environmental crimes puts additional tasks on the environmental police. "The government is thus taking one senseless step after another, endangering not only nature but also the money already invested," Hojsik pointed out. zel/df