Deputies Skip Work, Vote On Brasov Airport Postponed

Ovidiu Vrânceanu,

BRAŞOV

The draft law on the endorsement of Government Ordinance 41/2006 transferring 200 hectares from the Potato Institute to the Brasov County Council for the construction of the Brasov-Ghimbav International Airport was up for voting in the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday evening, but the lack of quorum prevented the adoption of any of the items on the agenda. In order to pass any law, the Chamber would have needed at least 169 MPs, but only 107 were present yesterday afternoon. "There was not a quorum. The voting will probably be resumed next week and there shouldn"t be any problems, Constantin Nita MP, Minister for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises, told BURSA yesterday afternoon, while on a field visit to inspect preparations for the National SME Fair.

The situation seemed quite clear this time. All the parliamentary groups had reached an agreement, so the planned voting seemed like a mere formality. However, the technicalities of the procedure delayed the actual start of the construction works. "I hope the draft law will pass. Now we have to wait until next week. I see that PD-L, too, supports this project, so there shouldn"t be any problem. We need to do it because we have already started over 10 million RON worth of works, while Intelcan, the winner of the tender, has spent as much on other works of their own," Brasov County Council Chairman Aristotel Cancescu said during a TV programme yesterday evening.

Before the Parliament session, Mayor George Scripcaru had said that everything was in good order and the investment could start. "I have meet with all the stakeholders and things have are now in good order. I also consulted the PSD colleagues yesterday on some of the issues that were still open at that time. It is good that we have come to this conclusion. (...) I have met with the Committees, even with the Prime Minister and the relevant Ministers. I made an effort to have the procedure closed in order not to have any more rumours that PD-L does not want this airport to be built. I want the airport and I wanted to prove it to remove any suspicions," the Mayor of Brasov said.

Scripcaru further said that, in order to be directly involved in the project, he would personally replace Secretary Nicolae Paraschiv, the current Brasov City representative on the Board of Directors of the airport management company. "The decision has nothing to do with Nicolae Paraschiv"s performance as the representative of the Municipality. It is my decision, out of my concern for this project. I want to support the project and to do more than I have done so far. I don"t want any more rumours that I do not want the airport to be built. I want to speed up some of the things and to make improvements, especially in the procedures of the central administration," Scripcaru added.