Kalinak: State Hasn't Failed in Presov Hospital Construction Case

Bratislava, 12 May (TASR) - The Defence Ministry will announce its next steps regarding the construction of the hospital in Presov after it receives an expert assessment expected next week, Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) declared on Monday. Kalinak pointed out that construction has been suspended due to checks on the quality of work carried out on the building's load-bearing structures. He rejected claims that the state has failed in the matter. "The costs will primarily be borne by the contractor. We amended the contract for this purpose and will proceed accordingly. A final decision on how we move forward should come at the turn of these two weeks," Kalinak told reporters at Parliament. He attended a session of the parliamentary health committee initiated by the opposition. Although the committee lacked a quorum, invited ministers remained to discuss the issue with committee members. The opposition welcomed the decision of Kalinak, Education Minister Tomas Drucker and Health Minister Kamil Sasko (both Voice-SD) to stay for the informal discussion. However, opposition representatives criticised the lack of concrete answers to their questions. "We did not learn any specific details. The minister spoke about ten columns, but leaked reports indicate that problematic concrete works took place three or four months ago," said MP Oskar Dvorak (Progressive Slovakia). Opposition representatives also criticised the absence of information on delays to the project and its final cost. KDH MPs Peter Stachura and Frantisek Majersky rejected the government's arguments regarding construction supervision and criticised the non-publication of contracts. MP Tomas Szalay (SaS) questioned the continuity of the project if the hospital is not completed by the end of the current electoral term. Former health minister Marek Krajci (2020-21) of the 'Slovakia' party said the issue should not be overdramatized. "If something has been built incorrectly, it has to be fixed. And it's true that because Recovery Plan funds were not spent there, we are not under time pressure. The important thing is that it is done properly and that the state has sufficient funding to complete the hospital," he added. The extra-parliamentary Democrats party criticised Kalinak on Tuesday for failing to take action in the Presov hospital case. The party said it had filed a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor-General's Office over serious failings in the construction project. "What is Kalinak hiding? It was his duty to file a criminal complaint in such a serious matter. Instead, he insists that probably nobody is responsible. These are desperate excuses. If proper supervision had been carried out on the site, it would have been impossible for poor-quality concrete to go unnoticed for a quarter of a year. There may be many more failings. That is why we submitted the matter, together with our findings, to law enforcement authorities," party leader Jaroslav Nad commented. On 30 April, Kalinak announced that the Defence Ministry has suspended construction of the military hospital in Presov due to checks on the quality of work on the structure's load-bearing elements. Experts are to determine whether the problematic sections can be repaired or must be demolished and rebuilt. He also conceded that the completion date for the hospital project could be delayed. mf