KDH: Suspended Work on D1 Motorway Section Near Visnove Cost Lot of Money

Bratislava, 23 July (TASR) – The suspension of all work on the D1 motorway section between Lietavska Lucka and Dubna Skala (Zilina region), including the Visnove tunnel, has cost Slovakia a huge amount of money, opposition MP Igor Janckulik (Christian Democrats/KDH) pointed out on Wednesday, adding that between 2019-2021, nothing moved on the construction site, but no one is taking responsibility for this mistake. "The disastrous consequences began on 5 December 2018, when then-premier Peter Pellegrini and former transport minister Arpad Ersek flew in by helicopter to inspect the construction site. After their visit, the government decided in March 2019 to terminate the contract with the contractor. The result? Not only did the construction become more expensive, but it also caused enormous material damage," emphasised Janckulik. The opposition MP went on to say that, for example, the prefabricated bridge beams, which were manufactured in the town of Senec (Bratislava region), could no longer be used because they were 39 metres long. According to him, these beams were cut up so that they could be transported to the Motorway Administration and Maintenance Centre in Liptovsky Mikulas (Zilina region), but the transport cost around €500,000. There were more than 500 beams on the premises of the National Highway Company (NDS) in Liptovsky Mikulas, which the company paid the contractor for even though they weren't used in the construction. Subsequently, the new contractor designed and used new beams, for which NDS paid. "NDS is reportedly considering selling the entire site in Liptovsky Mikulas, including the lucrative land and the beams, as it can't get rid of the beams. Instead of donating the beams to municipalities for slope reinforcement or bridging smaller watercourses for cycle paths, for example," added Janckulik. am