The Minister of Environmental Protection, Simonas Gentvilas, who came to Gargždis on Tuesday, listened to the concerns of the municipalities.
According to the municipalities of the region of Western Lithuania, the approved “National Plan for the Water Area 2022-2027”, whose Annex 4 lists flood risk management measures in specific municipalities, raises many questions regarding distribution priorities and a complex approach to flood prevention. Huge funding is allocated to some municipalities, while only 300,000 is allocated to Klaipėda district. euros, while no funding was allocated to Kretinga district at all, although both municipalities fall into intensively flooded territories, so it is not at all clear what criteria were used to distribute the funding.
According to the mayors, it is not necessary to absorb the funds for flood prevention, but to use them in a purposeful way so that the municipalities not only manage their infrastructure. It is not clear whether measures implemented in one municipality will not harm another municipality. Therefore, the Ministry of the Environment is requested to purchase and carry out a flood risk management study of the entire region from the same funds provided for the program, which would allow the selection of the most necessary and targeted measures to control flood risks.
“We have to understand that the rivers flowing through our municipal territories are a big threat of floods, which need to be cleaned and deepened so that the water flows faster. The cost of such works is undoubtedly huge and it is too much of a burden for municipalities, which is why we are asking the state to finance the implementation of such works”, says Klaipėda District Mayor Bronius Markauskas.
However, the decision has yet to be approved by the European Commission, which will be approached with a proposal to adjust the list of financed measures.
During the meeting, it was decided that all municipalities should submit to the Ministry of Environment by April 15. will present all its planned measures, and another meeting will be organized at the end of the month.
The ministry, which is correcting the description of the procedure, promises that it will be possible to submit applications for financing already at the end of summer. However, here too, according to the mayors, it is necessary to abandon the requirement to submit the technical projects of the planned works together with the applications. Municipalities propose to provide for the possibility to add only pre-project proposals to the applications.
