“Sofia is facing a real risk of a garbage collection crisis and serious heating problems at the beginning of winter”, said the chairman of the socialist group in the SOS Ivan Takov in the program “Intersection Point”.
“From October 6, the neighborhoods “Lyulin“ and “Krasna Polyana“ may be left without a company to clean them. The mayor intends to outsource the work to the municipal company “Sofia Ecostroy“, but it does not have the necessary capacity“, Takov pointed out.
According to him, the municipality should have built a more serious resource for its own waste collection long ago in order to avoid such situations.
The other acute problem facing Sofia is the state of “Toplofikatsiya“. Takov admitted that the company is facing huge debts – over 2.5 billion leva – and an outdated network, which in places is more than 40 years old.
“We see daily accidents in neighborhoods such as “Druzhba“ and “Iztok“. Currently, an urgent replacement of 10 km of heating pipes within three months is required – "an extremely difficult task," he warned.
However, according to him, the heating season is not in danger, as work will be done in stages, especially around schools and kindergartens.
Takov stated that the socialists are against the privatization of “Toplofikatsiya“ and will insist that the company remain public property.
“The concession is not a solution. A possible option is external management, but such a step should have been taken years ago, when the obligations were halved,“ he said.
On the topic of parking in the capital, the municipal councilor criticized the proposals to expand the blue and green zones and increase prices.
These are restrictive measures that are affecting people's pockets. First we need to ensure regular public transport and sufficient parking spaces, and only then introduce restrictions,“ said Takov.
According to him, currently in the central part of the city more stickers for local paid parking have been issued than actual spaces, which makes the problem difficult to solve.