site.btaCentral Government Officials Check Water Infrastructure Repairs in Pernik

Sofia, January 4 (BTA) - Economy Minister Emil Karanikolov and
Deputy Regional Development and Public Works Minister Nikolai
Nankov on Saturday inspected water supply network repairs in the
 Tsurkva neighbourhood in the water-crisis-hit town of Pernik,
just west of Sofia, Nankov's ministry reported.

By Saturday noon, emergency teams had dealt successfully with
the aftermath of one of two major technological accidents in the
 neighbourhood and water supply had resumed. Teams from other
towns were helping with the emergency repairs at the other spot.

A meeting involving Pernik Mayor Stanislav Vladimirov considered
 the need for Town Hall to expedite the procedures for selecting
 contractors for water system emergency repairs.

The Mayor told the central government officials that Town Hall
is commissioning emergency repairs in stages, using over 30
million leva in funding provided by the government on December
31.

Attempts to extract water from caves in the area have yielded
some positive results. The water output from this kind of source
 is low, but efforts are being made to increase it.

Due to the technological accidents, the residents of the Tsurkva
 neighbourhood received bottled water on a preferential basis.
NV/VE