Svoboda: During the construction of Blanka, the city hall's oversight failed

Prague - During the construction of the Blanka tunnel, the city hall's oversight failed. This was stated by Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda at a press conference yesterday. The construction, which could cost up to ten billion more, was the responsibility of the city investment department. The city leadership now wants the department to justify each item where the price increased.
    The tunnel was originally supposed to cost 27 billion, with about 18 billion already spent according to Svoboda, and the total price could rise to 37.1 billion CZK.
    The city leadership wants to verify how the oversight at the city investment department functioned. "If the department had functioned well, we would have had this information (about the increase in construction costs) sooner," the mayor noted.
    Deputy Mayor Karel Březina added that the leadership has a list of about 50 items where the price increased during construction. "However, we do not know the detailed reasons for the increase," he remarked. Therefore, the leadership is now asking the city investment department to justify each increased item. According to Svoboda, it may be the case that each item is sufficiently justified.
    Metrostav, which is building the tunnel, explains the increase in construction costs with new requirements from Prague. For instance, the specifications for the construction of the Troja Bridge have changed. It was originally supposed to cost about 400 million CZK, but changes to the bridge construction and other new requirements increased the cost by 720 million CZK.
    The Blanka tunnel, which is part of the northwest section of the city ring road, was originally projected to cost 21.2 billion CZK for the construction part including VAT and 4.2 billion for technology. According to contracts, an additional 1.58 billion was supposed to cover engineering and project work, geological or archaeological surveys, or land acquisitions.
    According to a document prepared for Prague's leadership by the city investment department, which is available to ČTK, construction work is now supposed to be more expensive by five billion, technology is expected to require over a billion CZK more, and Prague should also contribute half a billion more in other costs. Inflationary adjustments are additionally expected to raise the cost of the work by another 3.5 billion CZK. In total, Prague is expected to pay 37.1 billion. The previous city hall leadership was already aware of some of the increases.