Rospuda Valley - The Final Countdown
Rospuda Video on YouTube
Sanctifying our Domination over Nature
Next Sunday will witness a regional referendum in north-east Poland on the highway construction project, via Baltica, part of a highway linking Warsaw to Helsinki via the Baltic states. Thousands of residents will don their Sunday best, enter their local church, utter the Nicene Creed (without ever questioning what it means, who wrote it, or how it came about to be written), receive a Holy Communion wafer transubstantiated into the body and blood of Jesus Christ, pray their prayers whilst kneeling on uncomfortable wooden pews, then advance onwards to the polling stations to cast the final death knell of the unique Rospuda Valley. Church leaders in the region are firmly behind the government's plans - one would wonder whether they have also joined the property speculation along the route?
The President has spoken
Reuters reported Polish president Lech Kaczynski speaking yesterday to residents of Bransk, a small town in the region, saying
"We are fighting today for Poland's right to rapid development. If we allow restrictions and obstacles by every group to block such a major investment, then Poland's great opportunity will be lost."
El Presidente's comments of enticement to support the motion come despite the fact that the highway development will breache the Natura 2000 directive which grants protection status to ecologically sensitive conservation sites.
Crusty Alert, Crusty Alert
Environmentalists fear that the proposed major routeway, which would dissect the beautiful Rospuda valley and replace rare species with trucks clocking up food miles, amongst a host of other vehicles and their inevitably adverse environmental impacts, will result in doing irreparable damage to one of Europe's largest wetlands and peat bogs. Green activists have had to put up with lots of false accusations including that they were being sponsored by Commie forces, that they were pawning from the State, etc. Yeah, go get a fucking job Crusties! Oh wait, you mean to say that you have a job, but also give a fuck about your country's environment -hmmm, and you can do both at the same time?! Ok, but you're still liberal/libertarian scum so go back to where you came from.
A Piece of PiS Democracy
If only Kaczynski applied his high 'democratic' credentials of holding referenda to the controversial anti-ballistic missile system the U.S. want to base in the south of the country. The first official talks between offcials from the U.S. and Poland were due to commence today. The U.S. plan to have 10 missile interceptors to counter (non-existent)potential terrorist threats from Iran and Korea has evoked memories of the Cold War amongst political analysts, media commentators, and the general public. But of course, you can't trust citizens with issues of national security so a referendum is out of the question regards this issue (Hint, hint - polls conducted here have given a clear indication that there is widespread opposition to such a development taking place).
The Euro Championship infrastructural development frenzy seems to be aiding the tearing up of any notions of environmentally sustainable development. Though the results of the referendum are not binding, it will certainly give the PiS administration the 'green' light to proceed with the bulldozers and chainsaws.
Comments
POland needs rapid development more than anything else. PiS etc get their support from the less developed parts of Poland. The east, etc. So getting them out of poverty will get this country out of its more nackward attitudes.
If less than a kilometre (it won't be disecting anything - is economically sensible - meaning that it would be good for people - then it would get my vote.
National self-interest pursued through increasing militarism and economic development prospering through public infrastructure expansion are not sacred cows - they can be good for some, shite for others.
Sustainable development needs to be a key element of the decision making process here.
Have you looked at the alternative proposed? If not please read this - Alternative bypass report. It has never been argued by the leading campaigners against the gvt. supported route that such public infrastructure is not necessary. Indeed, it has been conceded that it is essential for the region to boost the local economy. This has been deliberately kept at bay by the powers that be. The gvt. reneged on their promise to conduct a Strategic Environment Assessment prior to the construction. Now they deservedly find themselves in hot water with the E.U. Didn't you write a comment on a recent thread on your blog, something on the lines that Poland should lie in the E.U. bed it has decided to make for itself???
Does it make economic sense to get fined as a result of the European Court of Justice fiding you have breached the Natura 2000 accord?
Maybe it does in a crude capitalist manner - afterall, you're going to have to pay the fine with Euro funds. What a gem!
There are other ways which would assist people from this region to escape their relative poverty (which has not been their major argument in favour of the bypass, rather it has always been the issue of safety, which has been long neglected by local authorities in the region and is of real concern. Note: the amount of trucks that pass through the town are really fucking over the top)- but why the fuck would PiS want that? Keep the locals with the attitudes they have, keep them voting PiS no. 1. Have you been to Augustow? I suspect yes. I couldn't believe that this city of 30,000 or so could have so few traffic lights. Backward or not backward, that just shows how incompetent the local admin. have been and how ineffective resdient committees have been in voicing their concerns to politicians over road deaths - now these same politicians pretend to give a shit. What a joke, that is, if it wasn't tragic!
Investing in adult education, delegating more funds to the region for sustainable investment
and encouraging/facilitating local entrepeneurship, back to work skills training and workshops {successfully carried out in Ireland through the FAS programme}, facilitating people of the locality to be agents of change when informed of all the facts (the local council ran a vitriolic media campaign to blacken the name of those opposed to the gvt. plan, most not realising that there was a viable alternative proposed that would also deal with their chief concerns), supportiung small farmers so they can survive against he colossal growth of agri-business (or if they wish to opt out that sphere then to help them engage in apprenticeships, eco-tourism, etc.).
However, there are issues which are of national concern, and should not be just decided by the local region. If Krakow main square was threatened by development, or Wawel for that matter, wouldn't it be of interest and concern for all Poles and their right to decide on the issue?
So if the referendum is the way to go, then surely it should be national one!
Have you thought about the property speculation factors that come into play when such projects are in the pipeline? Is it too far-fetched to suggest that local business/politically-involved people, who only have their own self-interest in mind, and not the welfare of the bottom rung of their community, have a lot to lose by entering into serious dialogue with people concerned at the proposed route way. It's not if your Irish and you've followed the corruption exposed by a shitload of tribunals over the past decade during the stink left behind by the Celtic tiger.
My trip there: Indymedia Report
Dolina Rospudy
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