Have the problems in public transport in Sofia been solved and is there a risk of a new strike in the sector? Will there be places for all children in school and kindergarten from this year? These topics were commented on in the program “Wake up” by municipal councilors Bonka Vasileva from the PP-DB group and Vanya Tagareva from GERB-SDS.
Regarding public transport, Tagareva commented that currently the main problem is related to the demands of the workers. “It turns out that last week the caretaker government, together with one of the unions, secretly negotiated a 5% increase, which is contrary to the demands of the workers. In practice, what they promised them is only 50 euros in additional remuneration on top of their salaries”, said Tagareva.
Protest of public transport employees in Sofia
She recalled the protests last year and specified that then the government had once allocated 15 million leva and as many days before resigning. “That is, within one calendar year, 30 million leva were given, which helped the mayor of the Sofia Municipality. With the agreement that is happening now, only 5.6 million euros have been provided out of the necessary 7.7 million, if we are talking about these 5%. As far as I hear from the other union, which was ignored and did not participate in the talks, the wishes and demands of the workers are far more than what they are promised”, said Tagareva.
However, Bonka Vasileva does not agree with these statements. According to her, the main problem is the lack of reform.
„We have found a big hole in this sector. In road transport, we have a shortage of 45 million. And we continue to talk about salaries, provided that their majority in the Municipal Council tends to reject the reports of Mayor Vasil Terziev and his team, who wanted to make reforms, wanted to do an audit”, said Vasileva. „Mr. Vasil Terziev demanded the resignation of Stiliyan Manolov - the executive director of „Avtotransport“, after a series of scandalous deals and public procurements. Scandal after scandal was generated. I am very surprised that you are talking about transport, about a strike, about solving the problem. Nothing was solved with this money that was allocated by the Council of Ministers at that time”, said Vasileva.
The problem with the shortage of over 300 drivers still remained.
„The economic majority around GERB in the Municipal Council refuses to reform the transport sector. I will ask Mrs. Tagareva - do you agree with the management of this transport team, and with the executive director, after tons of fuel leaked in one of the garages and there were scandalous deals, including a public procurement for old buses. He himself first denied this procurement, and then signed the contract. We are talking about a system in which funds are constantly being poured, and the biggest problem is that there is no reform”, said Vasileva.
According to her, the protests are being used for political purposes. According to Tagareva, however, the expectations of the workers have not been met, so there is a risk of new protests.
Kindergartens
„The reform that we proposed is being postponed for two years. This was adopted almost unanimously at the last meeting of the Municipal Council. Ultimately, we propose to drop this one point that gives priority when children enter a nursery group later when choosing a specific kindergarten. Naturally, this was done after a large survey. In the end, we received answers in both directions - from people who agree and from people who disagree with this change”, said Bonka Vasileva.
According to her, the change is for the better. „A large part of the service that is provided for the nursery group is not actually used by parents. It is simply being used as an advantage”, said Vasileva.
According to Tagareva, the number of children waiting is increasing. “From 1900 children, there are currently 2700. These are the objective facts. GERB-SDF support this change in the regulation, taking into account that all children in Sofia should be placed on an equal basis. The grace period has been postponed by two years, not one, so that all children who currently attend nursery schools can continue in kindergarten”, said Tagareva.