Will they blow whistle on Euro 2012?
The Polish parliament must pass legislation to speed up EURO 2012 development.
Bogdan Zaryn reports
Polish parliamentarians have roughly 48 hours to pass legislation which is crucial for EURO 2012 projects. If the Polish Sejm fails to pass special laws then Poland may be in danger of loosing its title as host country for EURO 2012.
1778 days left till EURO 2012. The clock is ticking and nothing much seems to be happening for EURO 2012. In the spring Europe?s governing body UEFA awarded Poland and Ukraine the chance to host this event. Now that the euphoria has fizzled Polish law makers must pass crucial legislation before September 7th in order to make Poland ready for 2012.
Michal Borowski chief architect for EURO 2012 in the Sports Ministry says backward legislation is hampering progress.
?To order design, this is the first thing that has to be done within two or three months from now. All big projects must be ordered the agreements with architects and engineers have to be signed and then they can start work. For the moment we have a situation in Wroclaw and Gdansk and in Warsaw , that not even the design job has been ordered. ?
Poland has already appointed a new Sports Minister and department to over see the entire 2012 project but, observers say that?s not enough. The location of new stadiums, launching tenders for projects and construction works and finally documentation on the entire process could take over a year and a half to realize. To mmake matters worst Poland is getting ready for snap elections in the fall? Sports Ministry officials though are not worried.
?The total modernisation of the entire country. This is the most important. The question is when the election will be and what happens after. But until the new government will be constructed, the old government is working and so I can?t see any problems.?
Robert Strybel from the Polish American journal says that Polish politicians will put their differences behind them and most probably vote unanimously for the introduction of new legislation speeding up investment.
?These are not controversial issues. I don?t think there is any party that is opposed to 2012. But anything in Poland is possible ? there is a good likelihood that they will get together on this and pass those things. But if anything will come of it is another matter. It is a completely different ball game. There?s lots of things that Poland has on paper and that?s where it ends up. The lack of Polish follow-up has been, throughout history, a very serious problem. It has shown time and again that there is great enthusiasm at the beginning which is called ?straw fire enthusiasm? and then everything fizzles out.?
The Polish Sports Ministry has to ask UEFA for an extension so it can realize its plans for the development of sports infrastructure. It is not known whether such a request will be granted. A dark cloud continues to plague the country?s feeble attempts to meet the deadline set by the European football Association.
polskieradio.pl
