site.btaSocialists Slam Road Infrastructure Agency's Response to Their Demands for Motorway Construction Checks

104 POLITICS - SOCIALISTS - RIA - CRITICISM

Socialists Slam
Road Infrastructure Agency's Response to
Their Demands for Motorway Construction Checks


Sofia, December 6 (BTA) - The Road Infrastructure Agency's (RIA) response to the demanded check of the construction of certain motorway sections is an attempt "to pull woof over our eyes and sweep the case under the rug," said here on Wednesday Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader Kornelia Ninova at a briefing in Parliament.

The Socialists demand that expert tests be carried out by an independent European laboratory, which has not operated in Bulgaria.

BSP's leader said that the answer they have received from RIA contains false statements. It is absurd to claim that a check cannot be conducted on a road that has been built already. The Agency alleges that such checks can only be carried out during the construction phase only and not after the road is completed, she said.

It is unacceptable to claim that such checks must be done in a laboratory chosen by the contractor, which means that builders are checking themselves, she said. According to the Socialists, it is also unacceptable for the opposition to offer experts to RIA who can solve the problem, as it has been proposed in the past.

Ninova also said that the prosecuting magistracy has been alerted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) about suspected corruption and irregularities in construction.

BSP for Bulgaria Spokesperson Elena Yoncheva said that samples will be taken for testing from roads built or repaired in the past five years. According to her, there are no legal grounds to deny checking the quality of roads after their completion, as stated by RIA. LI/MY



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