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Infrastructure: Road transporters, skeptical about Transport Master Plan
Road transporters do not believe in the feasibility and implementation of the Transport Master Plan and consider it “a story”, although it is am ambitious plan stretching on a period of 15 years, said Constantin Isac, vice-president of UNTRR on Thursday.
“No minister, and we had meetings with the last 6-7 ministers, was able to draw up objectives for this economic branch- transports with the ministry team. Minister Matache will have to tell us what he intends to do, what he did and might do to make history,” said Isac at the conference Mediafax Talks about Transport & Logistics.
He considers the Master Plan is just a story and UNTRR does not credit those who are handling the project.
“In our opinion, the Master Plan, although ambitious, stretching on 15 years, mentions figures for infrastructure development but is just a story. If we meet five years from now to speak about what happened, we might say the story was very beautiful but the dragon would not do us what we proposed. We, the road transporters, have no expectations and we grant no credit to those in charge of the implementation of the Master Plan” Isac added.
At the same time he referred to the non existence of infrastructure in Romania after 25 years of democracy and said that historical regions are sentenced to underdevelopment because trucks and trains cannot pass through in Moldova and Oltenia.
In this context he reminded a study made by the International Union of Road Transporters in 2008, in which one euro not invested in infrastructure generated losses of 2 euros in developed countries and 10 euros in emerging economies such as Romania.
“One billion euros not invested or stolen from infrastructure works bring damages of 10 billion euros. These are the dimensions of the phenomenon we are talking about,” the UNTRR vicepresident said.
Isac mentioned that a truck with transport activity in Romania brings 30,000 euros to the state budget annually from excises on diesel oil, taxes on wages and other activities involved.
“For each truck taken out of the market the state can afford losing 30,000 euros. But we gather taxes from old women who sell parsley in the market,” Isac commented.
He considers that Romania must take advantage of the very good geographic position it has, midway between East and West, between Jordan and the Netherlands.
In his turn UNTRR president Radu Dinescu claims lack of results in transports
In Romania there are no people responsible for not applying the law, there are just bad laws. A flow in Constanta Port or in air transport can bring an increase in road transports of goods and persons. After eight years in EU we have rights not only obligations. Every country protects economic agents on its territory, “Dinescu said.