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Sofia residents protest in the center of Sofia

Unbearable dust from illegal parking in the courtyard of the Military Academy compromises the good idea of having a sports center and creates an artificial conflict

Nov 2, 2024 06:07 39

Sofia residents protest in the center of Sofia  - 1

Today some of the citizens who live in the area of the Military Academy in the Oborishte district are protesting against the "incredible dust blowing from the illegal parking lot of the sports center in the yard of the Military Academy”G. S. Rakovski“", the protesters specify in a message to the media. They are against the passive behavior of a whole galaxy of institutions that make it impossible for them to even open their window instead of playing sports. The problem, which has dragged on for years, has escalated to the point where locals are fighting for the basic right to clean air and safe traffic in their own neighborhood.

The problems for the neighborhood began in 2020, when during the first quarantine, allegedly under the pretext of improving the safety of the Military Academy “Georgi Sava Rakovski“, its head, Grudi Angelov, ordered about 10 acres of forest to be cut down from the yard. In parallel, the Military Academy leased an unspecified 14 acres of its yard for a sports center, immediately built on the cleared ground. Despite numerous reports of irregularities, the construction of the facilities ends without a building permit being issued, proper coordination with the cultural monuments, etc.

Almost a year since then, DNSK, RDNSK-Sofia and Oborishte region have been exchanging letters, discovery protocols, etc. The absurdity of the situation is that the entire courtyard of the academy is being used as a military area. All permits are issued according to the order of the Ministry of Defense, but the Minister of Defense is competent as far as a special military object is concerned. In this vacuum, the construction is presented as the restoration of an existing stadium (actually a meadow used for a staging area, and after 2000 simply overgrown with forest). And the sports facilities themselves are movable facilities.

Meanwhile, the sports center, bearing the name of a widely advertised gambling company, is booming. Hundreds of visitors flock by car from 7am to midnight. "The small streets of the neighborhood between the emblematic street “Ivan Asen“ and “Khan Omurtag“ are literally flooded with constant traffic. Parents in a hurry or young people who are late for the next match, rush around the streets of Voivodeship. Giving up the right of way, driving into oncoming traffic and driving aggressively at high speeds on narrow paved streets lead to daily conflicts," the protesters wrote in a letter to the media.

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