A highway had to pass under this bridge. But she’s not here yet
–
A toilet for 335,000 euros, a bridge over a non-existent highway or a barrier for 400,000 euros – these are some of the most striking examples in the new “Black Book” on waste published by the Union of Taxpayers in Germany, says Deutsche Welle.
Waste of public funds is also a fact in Germany. In its “Black Book”, the Union of Taxpayers annually reveals data on incredible and senseless waste of public funds. In his current “Black Book”, he lists a bunch of examples of carelessness and waste – from road construction to digitalization.
Bridges that no one needs
Among the classic examples – a pedestrian bridge in the Sauerland region, built right next to an existing bridge, or the marking of a bike lane in Lower Saxony, which cost 261,000 euros. In the area where the marking was placed, they were satisfied, but the Ministry of Transport decided to terminate the project and this forced the marking to be removed for 763,000 euros.
In the province of North Rhine-Westphalia, a bridge worth 950,000 German marks was built in 1980. The bridge was built because it was planned to build a ring road, which, however, still does not exist – only the bridge stands in the middle of nowhere – completely useless, according to the Union of Taxpayers.
In Bremen, for 30,000 euros, they painted the image of the famous Bremen town musicians on the ground with the idea of serving as signposts. However, the paint did not turn out to be of sufficient quality and the images disappeared – as well as the money spent on them.
The Taxpayers’ Union looks particularly closely at this type of funding and thus reveals the following case: on the island of Fehmarn in the North Sea, the coastal street was modernized for 12.8 million euros, of which a million went for the repair and operation of a tower with a panoramic observation tower. the neighborhood, which was not actually part of the project at all. For local authorities, however, the tower was welcome – thanks to it, 70 percent of the funds needed for modernization were provided from the provincial budget.
Millions for certificates and mobile applications
–The app, for which a lot of money was given, proved to be rarely used
The digital certificates introduced in connection with the coronavirus have also been criticized. As they were not yet available at the beginning of the immunization campaign, expensive and easy to forge double structures were created. In parallel, many of the Länder gave millions to Luca’s mobile data registration app, after which it turned out that his connection to the health authorities was lame or not used at all.
Among the projects listed in the Black Book is a 335,000-euro toilet in Lower Saxony, a 400,000-euro cemetery park barrier, and the still-unfinished Bundestag administration building. Its construction began more than ten years ago. Meanwhile, construction costs have doubled to 332m euros, and some already installed facilities have had to be removed due to new legal provisions.
How to renovate opera houses
–Costs are constantly rising, and the renovation of the Cologne Opera House is not yet complete
For the same reasons – a delay in construction, which leads to higher prices, the Cologne Opera House is also in the “Black Book” – its rehabilitation lasts instead of three years now as much as 12. Initially estimated costs were 230 million euros, but in the meantime approaching one billion.
There is a similar case in Bonn – the Beethoven Concert Hall was originally supposed to be renovated for 43 million euros, while now the amount of funds is estimated at 160 million, and this will not be the final amount.
–
