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28

POLITICAL

JPRS-EER-91-053 25 April 1991

personal opinion is that the poor service is due not only to the extreme decay of buses and electric trolley cars, but also to the poor quality of the personnel, to their łąck of interest.

[Oproiu] As far as I know, the new independent manage-ments that have inherited the former ITB [Bucharest Transportation Enterprise], have not only taken steps to restore the stock of vehicles using both domestic (I might add that many orders have still not been filled by suppliers and manufacturers) and imported production from govemment funds, but have also aimed at other areas. The latter involve measures to improve the living conditions of public transportation workers by providing adequate housing, salaries, social and medical assis-tance, and so on. Civilizcd living conditions make people morę aware and helps them develop a sense of obliga-tion.

[Bossun] In other words, if you rcceive a gift you have to respond in kind. In a market economy you can easily become...available! And so (if you will pardon the pun), we can go on the road!

[Oproiu] Where nothing has been done in recent years! Except for patching, which we are still doing at this time. The city’s subsoil is unstable, and the work performed in the new zonę was defective, without protection against corrosion. The installation of the water supply system in prestressed concrete with inadequate supports, even in the vicinity of the trolley tracks, has effectively destroyed the distribution network. In any case, we will take action this spring with all available means, first of all in the area where the subsoil does not have any problems. By mid-spring, a new concrete plant imported from Germany will be placed in operation. We hope to have the major arteries repaved during the next two-three years. It all depends on materiał as well as financial resources!

[Bossun] As an old reporter, I remember press cam-paigns—mostly in the spring—which under the slogan “Our city, the most beautiful and best maintained," would mobilize the population for “patriotic labor.” It is not that I miss it, but given Bucharest’s sorry condition, I find myself wondering what (else) can city hall do?

[Oproiu] We are far from having solved—and certainly not controlled—the city’s cleanup. We have so far taken emergcncy measures, one of which is underway now: With rented equipmcnt and means of transportation, and with an expanded work force, we have set the goal of completely ridding the city of excess garbage in a max-imum of three weeks. This campaign will cost us 30 million lei. And there still remains the serious problem of disposing of this garbage. (The peasants in areas near the city have barred access to the garbage pits, which are veritable cores of epidemics, and which havc fouled the water table.) We will restart the smali but efficient incineration plant experiment at Militari, and we will expand the process (we also have foreign proposals). At the same time, we have launched a program that will cost 1.5 billion lei, to urgently create new areas for garbage removal with ecological protection. In the futurę, how-ever, by recovering and reusing categories of waste (glass, textiles, paper, and so on), by burning and collecting the thermal energy, or by reusing compost as fertilizer, we will completely solve the problem of garbage disposal.

[Bossun] I suggest that we stop herc, simply because you will monopolize the whole paper if this conversation is published. And I also can sec from your secretary’s determination, that a possible French partner is waiting to be received.

[Oproiu] That is very true. In closing, I can tell you that the city hall administration not only has good intentions, but also the capability, the Professional potential to fulfill them. We know what we have to do, and the decisions we are taking are technically and economically sound. The remaining problem is Financing. Presently, only 10 percent of our budget comes from the central budget, the rest has to be provided from local resources; theoretically therefore, 50 percent of our programs’ completion is assured up to now. The obstacle is the gap between demand and the prospects of obtaining con-struction and Processing industry materials from suppliers. I am convinced that gradually, and only with our participation, the participation of all those who live here, our lives will improve and prosper. It is only under this condition that we can operate as a whole.

[Bossun] I thank you for the opportunity to know you better, and to learn, even if only a little, how you see us from your mayoral seat.

[Oproiu] And I thank you as well.

YUGOSLAVIA

DELO Said To Want Caretaker Government

LD1804130791 Belgrade TANJUG in English 1120 GMT 18 Apr 91

[Text] Ljubljana, April 18 (TANJUG)—Federal Prime Minister Antę Markovic arrived unexpectedly Wednesday evening at Strmol Castle, in SIovenia, and talked for three hours with the republic’s President Milan Kucan. The content of their talk was not dis-closed.

The Ljubljana daily DELO today quotes chief of Kucan’s cabinet Marjan Siftar as stating that the “Meeting was not aimed at a kind of a deal between Slovenia and Markovic on the eve of the federal parliamenfs debate on the fate of the federal govemment and its reforms programme, or at any special guarantees to Markovic beyond the current Slovenian policy towards the federal govemment.”

“As far as we know, Slovenia does not plan to give in on anything in the forthcoming parliamentary debate, and the same goes for the Republic of Croatia,” says DELO.