Today, June 4, after Justice Minister J. Bordan's In the extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, Sandis Ģirģens, presented a plan for the construction of the Liepājas prison, expressed his separate opinion, objecting to the vision of the New Conservative Party (NCP) and emphasizing the need to prioritise national security and business development in the current times of crisis.
“I believe that the construction of Liepājas prison with planned budget expenditure of approximately 147 000 000 euro, with a probably planned increase, cannot be a national priority at this time. There is no organized civil protection in the country, no operational crisis management center has been established to overcome existing and future epidemiological, climate, security crises. No investment has taken place in the rehabilitation of State Police stations, State Fire-fighting and Rescue Service depo, as well as the services' outdated transport. Internal affairs services have problems with equipment, and due to lack of financial means, it is not possible to complete up to 3 firefighters per vehicle. And all this, not to mention other acute, governmental challenges that lack the means, such as effective combating the shadow economy,” says Interior Minister Sandis Girgens.
“I also see that, as far as the prison is concerned, as opposed to the representative of the New Conservative Party, J. Bordan's promised that, there is no overstated estimate of construction costs, nor has a new tender been made. Finally, I would like to emphasize that it would be more useful to recover from the crisis caused by the Covid-19 virus in the country to invest these financial resources in the development of our exporting companies,” Minister continues.
Prepared by: Beata Jonite
Minister of the Interior Councillor for Communications. Mob.: 28351588
E-mail: beate.jonite@iem.gov.lv