Stohlova: Taraba Incapable of Managing his Ministry, Fails to Fulfil Its Mission

Bratislava, 24 June (TASR) - Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) is incapable of managing his ministry and has been failing to fulfil its mission for a long time, opposition MP Tamara Stohlova (Progressive Slovakia/PS) said in reaction to Premier Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) inspection day at the Environment Ministry on Tuesday, adding that Taraba should never have become a minister. "He has disrupted organisations under the ministry's remit, fired experts, replacing them with amateurs without experience. He has undermined nature protection, which he has always perceived as a mere obstacle, from the legislative, personnel and managerial viewpoints," stated Stohlova. According to her, organisations falling under the Environment Ministry are unable to fulfil their tasks, their projects are stalling and money is getting lost. "One of Tomas Taraba's flagships is EU money; he likes to styles himself as a minister who excels at using EU money. He himself calls his performance phenomenal," said Stohlova, recalling that it was just his ministry that lost over €300 million from the recovery plan. She said that Taraba failed to meet the agreed milestones or come up with alternative projects, adding that the goal of the recovery plan was the green transformation of Europe after the pandemic, with an emphasis on addressing the climate crisis as an opportunity for the economy and society. Stohlova also responded to the premier's statement, praising an amendment to the law on the environmental impact assessment (EIA). "It actually isn't beneficial at all, as it has limited the rights of the public and local governments. And it has caused such chaos that it is currently the subject of forced legislative amendments," she noted. ko