Opposition: Government Plans to Hand Irrigation Control to Arab Sheik
Bratislava, 31 July (TASR) - Slovak opposition parties on Friday accused the government of preparing to hand control of the country's agricultural water infrastructure to an Arab sheikh through a non-transparent process, warning that farmers could ultimately be forced to pay for irrigation water.
The criticism followed Wednesday's working visit to Slovakia by United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Tamara Stohlova, an opposition MP from Progressive Slovakia (PS) and vice-chair of the parliamentary committee for agriculture and the environment, warned at a press briefing that no major foreign investor would undertake such a project without expecting substantial returns.
"The state has neglected irrigation infrastructure for years, despite owning it and being responsible for maintaining it. Now there's a risk that Slovak farmers will have to stump up to fix the cost of this failure by several successive governments, predominantly those led by Robert Fico," she said.
Stohlova warned that farmers could end up financing what she described as "huge" profits for the Arab sheikh and the world's second-richest family, which, she said, has amassed its wealth from oil and gas production. She criticised Prime Minister Robert Fico and Agriculture Minister Richard Takac for failing to disclose details of what she called the "deal of the year" in Slovak agriculture, and she urged the government to publish its plans for the country's strategic irrigation infrastructure, particularly in the context of climate change.
The opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) also said that negotiations with a foreign investor on modernising Slovakia's irrigation systems require maximum transparency. KDH said that based on the prime minister's public statements, the talks concerned a public-private partnership (PPP) project and the possible involvement of an investor from the UAE. However, it noted that neither the stage of the negotiations nor the cooperation model under consideration have been disclosed.
KDH stressed that modernising irrigation systems is essential to prepare Slovakia for more frequent droughts and to bolster the resilience of its agricultural sector. At the same time, it said that the state must retain control over strategic water infrastructure and ensure that any decisions are taken in the public interest. The party called on the government to publish the key parameters of the proposed project.
Opposition MP Veronika Remisova (Slovakia-For the People) also lambasted the government's plans. "Fico and his government are signalling that they want to allow Arab sheikhs into irrigation projects in agriculture, leaving Slovak farmers to pay for these systems and become dependent on them," she said.
Remisova described the proposal as an "incredibly arrogant and foolish" transfer of strategic infrastructure vital for the country's food security into foreign hands. She argued that, at a time when countries around the world are protecting their resources and food self-sufficiency, the government has been seeking instead to sell key infrastructure to foreign investors.
