The postponed project on the Anen triangle cost Prague 1 8.5 million crowns
Prague – The work on the postponed project of paving the square on the so-called Anen Triangle cost the Prague 1 City Hall 8.5 million crowns. Prague 1 Mayor Petr Hejma (STAN) said this at a meeting of district representatives today. The opposition, which plans to criticize for a long time, called it unnecessarily spent money. According to Hejma, this is an investment that will pay off when the project is completed.
The Anenský triangle is located at the intersection of Smetanova nábřeží and Karolína Světlá street and originally covered the lawn. At the beginning of last year, the town hall had the soil excavated in preparation for improvements including paving the area, building a water feature, felling a mature silver maple and making a passage through the embankment wall, the so-called tentacle, accessible.
A wave of criticism was raised against the project by some local residents and the parliamentary opposition. After criticism, the city hall stopped the work and had the construction site preserved, while there was no need to redo the project so that it was not necessary to cut down the maple tree. In July of this year, Hejma stated that due to the increase in prices, it was not possible to reach an agreement with the construction company, the project is being postponed until the maple tree has survived, and the lawn will return to the area.
Today, when discussing the town hall’s financial reports for the first half of the year, the opposition criticized the fact that millions of crowns were spent on a project that ultimately did not materialize. In response, Hejma stated that the contract for the work was already signed in 2017 and the town hall had to start the work, otherwise sanctions would apply. He added that out of the total amount, the project cost 3.1 million crowns, of which 800,000 crowns had to be paid to amend the documentation for the preservation of the maple tree. According to the mayor, the building itself cost 3.6 million, and the rest of the amount was made up of operating and other costs around the building.
Hejma denied that it was a waste of money. According to him, part of the construction included necessary investments that would have to be made anyway, such as sewerage repair. According to him, the investment will pay off after the project is completed. “The moment the tree loses its vitality, we will continue to implement this project, because many people, on the other hand, are looking forward to being able to walk to the Vltava,” he said.
A few years ago, according to the Public Procurement Gazette, the companies OHL ŽS and Inpros Praha won the contract for modifications with a price of about 21 million crowns without VAT. According to Hej’s recent statement, the companies agreed to increase the price by about seven million CZK, which the management of the town hall considered uneconomical. At the beginning of July this year, the district councilors therefore approved the termination of the contract.
Today, representatives also discussed the report on the management of the town hall in the first half of the year. According to her, the municipality ended up with a surplus of about 1.5 million crowns, with revenues of 437.6 million crowns and expenses of 436.2 million crowns. Prague 1 has an approved budget for this year with revenues of approximately 825.4 million crowns and will spend 1.03 billion crowns. He plans to cover the difference with money from previous years, of which 130 million crowns are to come from reserve funds.