LMP speculates local councils to be ‘blackmailed’ into transferring water works to state

LMP group leader Laszlo Lorant Keresztes told an online press conference that public water works should be operated by local communities, while  the state should contribute an annual 200-300 billion forints (EUR 572m-858m) to their development and upgrade. Handing over their operation to the state would mean the neglect of much needed maintenance work on them, he insisted.

Keresztes said Hungary’s water networks were already neglected as it is, requiring some 1,500-3,000 billion forints’ worth of upgrades. Malfunctions have doubled since 2011 and around 80 percent of the pipes in the system are in need of upgrading, which has led to 30 percent of the country’s drinking water going to waste, he added.

He said the prime minister had promised adequate funding for the development of the country’s water networks, adding, however, that neither the budget for this year nor next allocated enough funds for the necessary upgrades.