According to coalition representatives, Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš (Pirates) has until the end of August to correct errors in the digitized construction procedure. Jan Jakob, the leader of TOP 09 MPs, said today in the Partie Plus program on CNN Prima News that if the system is not perfect at the end of the holidays, he assumes that Bartoš will take personal responsibility. Representatives of the opposition movements ANO and Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) spoke out for Bartoš’s resignation. The last time Bartoš refused to resign was in the Czech TV Události program on Friday. In today’s statement, he did not respond directly to a question about calls for resignation.
The system started working at the beginning of July, but after a month it is accompanied by problems that are criticized by the authorities, professional associations and construction companies. Bartoš defended the system in recent days. He also dismissed the ministry’s failure to communicate and in a lengthy post on the X Network addressed specific comments from the Platform for a Healthy Building Act’s critical letter.
In the CNN Prima News program, Jakob emphasized that the change in construction management was necessary and all political parties agreed on it. When the system is fully functional, construction management will be simplified and accelerated, he added. According to him, Bartoš repeatedly assured members of the TOP 09 club that the system would be fine. He was also aware of his responsibility. “If the system doesn’t work as it should (at the end of August), I assume they will take personal responsibility,” he said.
Petr Letocha, deputy chairman of the parliamentary club of coalition Elders and Independents (STAN), firmly believes that the system will be fully functional by the end of August. “If not, then it’s up to the Pirate Party to take some political responsibility. If the repair will be led by Minister Bartoš or someone else, I would wait for September,” he said. However, he considers the debate about how to ensure that the system is functional to be primary.
VIDEO: Interview for FLOW with Hana Landová about the construction law
Interview for FLOW with Hana Landová about the Construction Act • e15
The vice-chairman of ANO deputies, Patrik Nacher, criticized that the system did not pass a proper test operation. “Such a robust thing cannot be tested in heavy traffic,” he stated. According to him, the ministry should have backed down and postponed the start of digitization to the beginning of next year. The SPD would like to call an extraordinary meeting of the House of Representatives on the subject. However, according to Nacher, it makes no sense to convene it just so that politicians can scold Bartoš, but only at a moment when the goal would be, for example, a correction with a quick amendment.
The head of SPD deputies, Radim Fiala, believes that the digitization of construction management is the “biggest problem” in state IT systems since 1989. On CNN Prima News, he spoke in favor of Bartoš’s resignation. “It is his political responsibility, he did not program the system, but he is the one who handed out the tasks. If you have someone more capable of managing in the coalition and they ensure it, it will be a solution,” he told the coalition politicians.
Bartoš wrote to ČTK today that the digitization of the procedure and the new law represent a big and demanding change that has been called for for years, but due to its demanding nature and complexity, no one had the courage to do it. “But without that, there would never be a chance for improvement, even if it doesn’t come immediately and in the first phase there are difficulties that we don’t deny, on the contrary, we are actively solving them,” he said.
According to Bartoš, MMR is in daily contact with professional organizations, representatives of municipalities and authorities. “We take their feedback very seriously, we eliminate the main shortcomings as quickly as possible, and we try to take the comments into account in the further development of information systems,” he said. He recalled that users sent over 4,200 requests through the builder’s portal since July 1. Building authorities and concerned authorities have started working with more than half. “Out of a total of 1,900 procedures, 200 have been completed, for example, the division and consolidation of plots of land or approval,” he said.
