Opposition Initiates No-confidence Motion in Kalinak over Presov Hospital

Bratislava, 28 May (TASR) - Opposition MPs held a joint press conference on Thursday to announce that earlier in the day they submitted to Parliament a motion calling for the dismissal of Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) over misconduct in the construction of Presov hospital, which is being overseen by the Defence Ministry. MP Peter Stachura (Christian Democrats/KDH) stated that the construction of the hospital is wasteful, of poor quality and non-transparent. "The hospital in Presov isn't like the hospitals in Banska Bystrica or Martin (Zilina region), where the deadlines are genuinely pressing and we need to complete the construction work within a specific timeframe. The hospital in Presov could have been built at a normal, standard pace," he said, adding that the government is rushing the project solely so that it can be opened before the next general election. MP Oskar Dvorak (Progressive Slovakia/PS) believes that Kalinak should bear political responsibility. According to him, the minister had several opportunities to cancel the public procurement for the contractor. MP Tomas Szalay (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) expressed concern that the construction project may not even have a valid building permit, given that it lacks an environmental impact assessment. "I fear that what is being built in Presov is the largest illegal structure in Slovakia, and this could backfire badly," he added. Ex-minister of health and MP ('Slovakia' party) Marek Krajci views the construction of the hospital as a symbol of the current governing coalition's incompetence. He expressed his concerns that the previous builder might have made mistakes in other parts of the structure as well. Independent MP Lubomir Galko said that he's pleased that the opposition has managed to unite on the issue and is acting in unison. Kalinak announced in late April that the Defence Ministry had suspended the construction of Presov hospital due to a quality inspection of the work performed on the building's load-bearing elements. Last year, the Defence Ministry signed a contract with a group of contractors for constructing the military hospital in Presov worth €447.8 million (ex-VAT). The contractor was a group of suppliers led by Bekor. Kalinak recently announced withdrawal from the contract based on the results of the inspection. At the same time, a new tender was announced for building the hospital. Kalinak this week rejected claims that the construction project is overpriced. He called the opposition's criticism "false attacks" aimed at halting the construction work. Together with Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD), he stated that construction supervision hasn't failed. ko/df