Funds that could be used for the maintenance and upkeep of public areas were spent elsewhere by the city government, so garbage, dog poop, homeless people, and unkempt sidewalks make life miserable for the people of Budapest under the rule of the left-wing city government.
While the left-liberal-led capital is announcing more and more developments in areas of the city center that are already in good condition as the campaign approaches, in many areas of Budapest, according to reports from representatives and some local governments, public areas have fallen into a deplorable state as a result of the lack of development.
Continuous deterioration in Ferencváros
The IX. In the last five years, there has been a continuous deterioration in the state of public areas in the district, said Fidesz's Ferencváros local government representative, Andrea Gyurákovics. The renovations that were started by the previous city administration were still completed, but the city administration led by Krisztina Baranyi did not start any new projects, so there is no renewal in the public areas anymore, only the continuous deterioration is visible, said the politician, and then explained:
the city administration began to hurry as the election approached, and public areas in a particularly dilapidated state are regularly patched up and patched up.
The politician also said that the renovation and maintenance of the playgrounds and dog runs had not been completed in recent years, despite the fact that funds were allocated in the budget for the renovation and landscaping of public areas.
In addition, according to the politician, in recent years, the areas located outside Ferencváros have also been catching up, which was particularly emphasized during the previous city administration.
One of the important tasks of the next city administration will be to make up for these backlogs, said the politician.
Neglected Józsefváros
However, Ferencváros is not the only district where public spaces are in poor condition. In Józsefváros, according to Demeter Szilágyi, local Fidesz local government representative, public spaces have become neglected in recent years.
The politician said that if someone walks the streets of the district, the first thing they will notice is the neglect.
"In many places, the sidewalks are in need of renovation. The condition of the road and road surfaces is also bad, they are not properly maintained. The squares are neglected, despite the fact that all major public spaces in Józsefváros were renovated during the right-wing city administration before 2019. During that period, several sections of road were renovated during one cycle, while in the last five years, the left-wing city administration did not renew a whole 300 meter section of road," stated Demeter Szilágyi, and then added that the city administration spent the funds that could be used for the maintenance and upkeep of public areas elsewhere, only it is not yet known where.
In the meantime, the local government regularly makes attempts to renovate public areas, but they usually end in failure. This also happened at Harminckettesek square, where the square was closed to car traffic. However, this project, which cost the residents of Józsefváros 14 million forints, did not last too long, because after a few months the closure was lifted and the area was returned to traffic.
Public spaces in Erzsébetváros in a disgraceful state
Erzsébetváros' Fidesz municipal representative, Zsolt Benedek, said that the VII. public areas in the district are in a disgraceful state, thanks to the ongoing debate of the left-wing parties, which was about the manager of the company that cleans public areas.
The parties argued for almost half a year about who should lead the company in question.
According to the politician, last year was actually spent with the left-wing factions grappling with who should lead the company cleaning public areas, and how they could "extort" the old person, who was also appointed by the left, from his position.
The cleaning of public areas essentially fell victim to this tug of war.
"You have to see here that there are mountains of garbage on the streets of Erzsébetváros. Garbage is often stored in green plastic bags in public areas for weeks. And by the end of last year, this had escalated to the point that the current deputy mayor herself admitted that there are huge problems with the cleaning of public areas," the politician pointed out, then said that the company responsible for keeping public areas clean was finally completely reorganized on January 1st, but this only made things worse. the situation in public areas.
He flooded Terézváros with garbage
Regarding the state of public spaces, Viktor Lindmayer, the Fidesz faction leader in Terézváros, said that the public spaces in the district have become more and more neglected in recent years.
"There has been a lot of dog poop and dirt in the district. And what is extremely characteristic is that, unfortunately, a lot of homeless people have appeared in Terézváros in the past period, which makes life unlivable for the locals and those traveling in the area, and the city administration is not doing anything about it," the politician pointed out, adding that as a result a kind of slumming can also be observed in the district, which reduces people's subjective sense of security.
The capital doesn't even spend on road renovation
In response to the Hungarian Nation's question, the XXII. district self-government said that the condition of public lands owned by the capital has deteriorated in general, because in the district in the past period there were only two cases of public road development and renovation financed by the capital.
The left-liberal-led Budapest municipality is not successful in maintaining the road sections affected by public transport in Budafok-Tétény either, many of them have been in need of renovation for years.
Due to the lack of renovations, several road sections were in such critical condition that they had to be renovated by the local government instead of the capital, for which they also managed to obtain government support. In addition, in the case of renovations, the capital does not communicate properly with the locals, these tasks often have to be carried out by the local government.
The municipality also finds fault with the work of the Main Garden, as they wrote, the maintenance of the green areas is ongoing, thanking the employees of the Main Garden for their really careful work, but the high-quality renovation of ten to twenty square meters of green space is no longer a solvable task for them, even though there would be a huge demand for it.
In relation to the work of the Főkert, the municipality explained: the Nagytétény Castle Park is also an area managed by the capital, which is regularly recommended for renovation.
We have been receiving comments from the public about the neglect of the playground and the park for many years, which we regularly forward to the capital, but there has been no substantial change in the matter - they wrote, adding that part of the area had previously been designated as a bee pasture by the Főkert staff, and they are no longer cutting bees there. grass regularly, and in addition, the capital has reclassified large areas on the banks of the Danube as nature conservation areas, but nothing is being done to protect, rehabilitate, or even keep them clean.
The homeless have appeared in Csepel
The spokesperson of Fidesz in Csepel, Szilveszter Dobronyi, said that the XXI. The state of the public areas in the district is not rosy either, which, according to the spokesperson, could best be described as deplorable.
"Basically, in the central part of the district, including around the pedestrian street, garbage, chaos, and the stench left behind by the homeless are common everyday. The same chaotic situation prevails in the area as in the inner districts of the capital," Dobronyi pointed out, then added that passers-by in the area are exposed to daily atrocities by people who hang out there under the influence of alcohol or other mind-altering substances.
If we go to the pedestrian street or its surroundings, we can see and even smell the smell of urine and human excrement in the area - the spokesperson emphasized.
Depreciated Zugló
Ádám Borbély, the government representative of the district, said that all surveys show that, according to the people of Zugló, one of the most significant problems is the deplorable state of public areas in the district.
The politician explained that this situation is not helped by the fact that the situation is even worse in the case of the busier capital-maintained roads.
"Let's think about what conditions can be experienced along King Louis the Great Road, Bosnyák Square, or Örs Vezér Square? The renovation of Bosnyák tér began during the Fidesz district leadership, and then the left-wing mayors could not add a single renovated square meter. In the past thirty years, the "Rózsadomb of Pest", the enviable Zugló, has now become a depreciated, deplorable district," stated Ádám Borbély, adding that one of the main reasons for this was that the left-wing district leadership dealt with national politics, and the public lands remained unoccupied.
According to Borbély's conviction, what matters today in Zugló is not who is right-wing, left-wing or liberal, but rather whether the unmanaged, parachute politics of the past decades, together with all its confusing actors from far away, can be overcome in the coming local government cycle.
The change can start in the heads: in a local government election, instead of big politics, local matters must be dealt with, and if the district has suitable leaders who live here, the condition of public areas will also improve, the politician emphasized.
Cover photo: Gergely Karácsony and Ferenc Gyurcsány
Source: Source: Magyar Hírlap
