President in Kosice Dealt With Region's Problems, Especially Waste in Strazske

Kosice, February 6 (TASR) – President Zuzana Caputova during her working trip to Kosice on Thursday was interested in the situation, outlooks and problems in the region and city of Kosice, pointing out the need to address old environmental burdens and the problem of the depopulation of some areas with the departure of young people in particular.

At a meeting with Kosice governor Rastislav Trnka, she focused especially on the topic of toxic waste containing PCB substances on the premises of the former state-owned company Chemko Strazske and its surroundings. “This is a really big problem and I agree that the solution to this problem is extremely slow. It has long been defined as an old environmental burden, and it has not been resolved at all. It’s been proved that it has impacts not only on the environment but also on health,” she said, adding that she’s glad that the Government has finally started to deal with it.

Transport, employment, including the situation at U.S. Steel Kosice steelworks, and the social field were among the topics of the meeting of the head of state with the city leadership headed by Mayor Jaroslav Polacek. “I’m very pleased that in the area of the environment, the city aspires to the European Green Capital title in 2023. We also discussed the care for seniors and the situation at [the notoriously poor Roma borough of] Lunik IX, with the mayor of this borough also present, as well as interesting progressive projects that are being implemented here, for example in the field of employment and housing construction,” she said.

The president also attended a meeting with representatives of the Kosice IT sector, seniors and regional figures from various areas.