We wrote about the idea of building a shelter in Bolesławiec in the article “Should a shelter and clinic be built at this location in Bolesławiec”. The site is located at the municipal marketplace on Jeleniogórska Street in Bolesławiec, near the so-called link road toward Willowa Street. At present, there are graffiti-covered walls, a car park and an embankment there.
Leszek Socha refers to this article in his latest column.
I read the article about the planned investment carefully. A shelter is a very serious undertaking, and it is even good that it is being combined with a medical clinic.
However, my concerns relate not to the intention, but to how this investment will be carried out and who will supervise its construction.
We all know that there is a real threat of the hostilities in Ukraine spreading to Poland and other countries bordering Russia. To remind a large part of right-wing politicians and their supporters: the aggressor is Russia, not the European Union.
Additionally, because American soldiers are concentrated in our area, it may be classified as a strategic location on the aggressor’s map.
Such a shelter must protect human life from acts of war, not from a storm. Its construction must meet the requirements of modern warfare. The key elements of the investment will be the design, location, method of selecting contractors and, most importantly, specialist supervision.
A shelter, more than any other investment, is of overriding importance, but it is not profitable. Since it is unprofitable, it may be exposed to poor workmanship during construction and treated as a source of easy income by the many institutions involved in its construction and outfitting.
We know what official accountability is like in Poland. We also know how much emotion is aroused by the methods used to select contractors. Finally, we know how much controversy surrounds the methods of conducting investment supervision and settling accounts for public investments themselves. Therefore, from the very beginning of the decision to construct this facility, both the contractor and the reporting on supervision of the investment should be transparent.
Treating this investment like, for example, the construction of swimming pools could result in it becoming a tomb rather than a shelter, because someone might see it as an opportunity for easy profit rather than as protection for human life.
Leszek Socha