If a re-auction of the right to extract Ķemeri medicinal mud is not held soon, the resort rehabilitation center “Jaunķemeri” will be forced to stop admitting patients, writes “Latvijas Avīze” on Wednesday.
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The newspaper has also found out that sludge ponds have so far been assessed by the state as cheap bog land, and not as an important mining site.
Kemeri sludge, along with Baldone sludge, is one of Latvia’s national treasures. Established in 1997 Kemeri National Park includes the entire area where the sulphide-containing groundwater deposit is located. Currently, only KRC “Jaunkemeri” is used for sludge treatment.
Nature Protection Board (DAP), which is in charge of Ķemeri National Park, on June 10, the lease agreement with the former Ķemeri medical sludge acquirer – SIA “Sanare – KRC Jaunķemeri” – expired. DAP held an auction of land lease rights for a half-hectare sludge extraction unit. The initial rent and the starting auction price for the whole station was 7.22 euros per month. In the auction, which was attended by eight participants, the price of the rent has risen to 2,000 euros per month.
However, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Regional Ministry, which is in charge of the DPO, annulled the results of the auction because the land lease rights were auctioned, rather than the right to obtain minerals – medical mud. A re-auction is now being prepared.
The starting price of the auction was so low because the law stipulates that it must correspond to the cadastral value of the territory, which is not high for the territory of the bog.
Mihails Malkiels, the founder and manager of “Jaunķemeri”, explains to “Latvijas Avīze” that this rehabilitation center is the only one that currently uses Ķemeri sludge. The sanatorium produces less than 450 tons of healing mud per year. They are used for sludge baths, as well as about 24 tons per year sold to others. Currently, “Jaunķemeri” is denied the opportunity to obtain sludge at the Sloka deposit, as a re-auction is expected. “Jaunķemeri” is also worried that the new sludge acquirer will sell them at a much higher price, therefore the services of the rehabilitation center will become more expensive.
Kemeri sludge is more valuable than in the famous Czech resort Karlovy Vary, according to a study by Geo Consultants.
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