Amerikai Magyar Hírlap, 2003 (15. évfolyam, 4-49. szám)
2003-05-30 / 22. szám
AMERICAN ^^■^^■azmmzEznma Hungarian Journal Groundwork Drawn Up for Metro 4 (Budapest Sun) The groundwork for a proposed new fourth metro line has finally been laid after an agreement was reached between the Government and Budapest City Council at a cabinet meeting held on May 14 on the construction and financing of the long-debated project. With 10 stops, running from Etele tér (Kelenföldi railway station) to Baross tér (Keleti railway station), the first section is due for completion in five years time. Mayor Gábor Demszky described the decision as the “triumph of reason, good intentions and the construction of a European country”. Although the building of the new line will not involve much surface work, traffic will be hampered by large access pits in extremely busy locations such as Gellért tér, Fővám tér and Kálvin tér while construction is carried out. Preparations for the second section (connecting Baross tér with Bosnyák tér) are also due to start, although a decision on who will finance the second phase has yet to be made. Minister of Finance Csaba László said that 70% of the Ftl95 billion project will be covered by the Government, with the remaining 30% paid by City Hall. The European Investment Bank will provide a Ft875 million loan, with a repayment term of 25 years, which also includes a seven year grace period. László added that a vote on the metro bill will be made in this session of Parliament. The Ministry of Economy and Transport and City Hall will put out 29 tenders for various work including drilling, installation of electronic and safety devices and construction of the stations. Demszky’s office will establish a separate body to coordinate the project. The mayor explained that Budapest has earmarked Ft47.6 billion for the new metro. City Hall will have to rework its seven-year development plan to take into account a Ftl7.5 billion deficit. Demszky promised that the new metro will run every 1.5-2.5 minutes, carrying around 500,000 passengers daily, going from one end of the line to the other in less than 15 minutes. “The construction of the fourth metro line is also a great step in connecting the inhabitants of central Budapest and the suburbs, as well as a link between eastern and western Hungary,” Minister of Economy and Transport István Csillag added. The opposition, however, has a less optimistic view. Vice Chairman of Budapest’s City Management Committee, Miklós Szálka, a Fidesz party member, told MTI that the route approved by the Government does not fulfill all requirements. Szálka argued that construction should start at the Budaörs flower market - rather than at Etele tér - and the section should run as far as Bosnyák tér. “The new metro line designated by the Government will not reach some of the large housing estates in Budapest,” Szálka added. He said that the cabinet decided on this option because it was the cheapest and that the extension of the new line to Budaörs would have cost an additional Ftl00 billion. Szálka also suggested it would be wise to separate the new line into two sections, one running from Gazdagrét to Kálvin tér, the other from Keleti to Bosnyák tér. This, Fidesz argues, would allow more suburban people to use public transport. This metro line has been subject to fierce political debate over the last five years. In 1998, the then Minister of Finance Péter Medgyessy and Mayor Gábor Demszky signed a contract for the construction of Metro 4. According to the agreement, the Government and the City Council would have paid between 60% and 40% of the cost respectively. However, in November 1998 the Orbán cabinet announced that the Government could not contribute its share due to lack of funds, arguing that the Horn administration undertook a payment obligation without appropriate cover in the budget. After lengthy legal proceedings, the Supreme Court found in favor of the Fidesz Government. The reconstruction of Gellért tér and Móricz Zsigmond körtér in Buda has already been carried out so that future tunnels can be linked without the need for any additional surface work . Fidesz Congress: Orbán Elected Chair Budapest (MTI) - The 17th congress of the Fidesz Hungarian Civic Alliance, the largest opposition party, elected former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as its chair in Budapest on Saturday, with a vote of 499 in favor. Zoltán Pokomi was elected as one vice-chair with 494 ballots in favor, and Pal Schmitt was elected as the other vice-chair with 497 ballots in favor. May 3o, 2003 ~^6 ART EXHIBIT Stephen Spinder: Through My Lens -Budapest and Transylvania Where: Museum of the American Hungarian Foundation 300 Somerset Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08903-1084 When: June 1 through November 9,2003 Opening Reception: Sunday, June 1, 2003 Phone: (732)846-5777 Take a walk back in time and bask in the old beauty of Budapest and Transylvania. From June 1“ through November 9th, see these classic sites as photographer Stephen Spinder saw them. The Museum of the American Hungarian Foundation’s latest exhibit, Stephen Spinder: Through My Lens -Budapest and Transylvania, features Spinder’s uniques view - a turn-of-thecentury sense of history and the multitude of architectural styles in the region. Spinder will be at the Jue 15‘ opening to sign copies of his latest book and talk about the places he loves to photograph. HUNGARIAN FESTIVAL Where: On Somerset Street between Division and Bethany Streets, New Brunswick, NJ 08903-1084 (the street will be closed to vehicles) When: Saturday, June 7, 2003 Phone: (732)846-5777 Toronto Faces Possible New SARS Cluster TORONTO (Associated Press) - U.S. health officials reinstated a travel alert for Toronto Friday as Canada announced a new cluster of about 20 possible SARS cases in Toronto. The alert came as a harsh blow for Canada’s largest city, which was removed from the World Health Organization’s list of SARS- affected areas last week after apparently snuffing out the biggest outbreak of the illness outside of Asia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited possible new cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome in renewing the alert, which warns Americans to take precautions when traveling to a particular area. It stops short of the next step of advising against the trip. The SARS outbreak in Canada is the worst outside Asia, prompting emergency rooms throughout Toronto, the site of most cases, to operate under special restrictions that limit access. Hundreds of people have been advised to go into a 10-day quarantine in case they were exposed. At a somber news conference, Ontario and Toronto health officials said an apparently undiagnosed SARS case at North York Hospital may have infected health care workers, other patients and their family members on one ward in late April. A patient transferred from the ward to St. John’s Rehabilitation Hospital was considered the likely source of four more cases under investigation, they said. The five possible cases at the second hospital were announced earlier Friday. Dr. Donald Low, a microbiologist and major figure in the city’s anti-SARS efforts, said the new cluster could involve two deaths of elderly patients. If confirmed, they would increase the SARS deaths in the Toronto area to 26. “It’s been a rough day,” Low said. “We’re assuming the worst, that there’s a likely transmission to health care workers and family members.” Asked how many possible new cases were involved, Low said: “It’s so fluid right now, it’s unfair to put a number on it, but I think we’re talking twenties.” Ontario Health Minister Tony Clement called the situation a setback, while Dr. Colin D’Cunha, the province’s commissioner of public health, said it was uncertain if all the possible cases would be confirmed as severe acute respiratory syndrome. Toronto last reported a new SARS case on April 19. A WHO spokesman said Friday that determining the source of the latest cases would determine if Toronto gets put back on the U.N. agency’s list of SARS-affected areas. “Nothing has changed at this point,” spokesman Iain Simpson said from WHO headquarters in Geneva. Canadian officials had lobbied hard to get Toronto off the SARS pariah list, saying its continued inclusion sent the wrong message to the world about the state of the city’s outbreak, believed to be all but over. The SARS outbreak caused economic damage in Toronto, harming the vital tourism and convention industry as Americans and others canceled plans to visit the city. News of the possible new cases came as Canada struggled with the first North American case of mad cow disease in a decade, involving a single cow in Alberta. The United States and other countries have banned imports of Canadian beef products, which economists say could reduce Canada’s economic growth. Deadly Wrecks Plague Memorial Weekend Travel (Yahoo-AP) Americans by the millions, undeterred by a soggy economy and an elevated terror alert, are hitting the highways, airways and rails this Memorial Day weekend. Stretches of two major highways were shut down because of deadly accidents. Photo: AP AAA predicted record numbers of travelers on the road for what is traditionally the kickoff of the summer driving season. Crews in western Maryland on Saturday cleared away the wreckage of nearly 90 vehicles after a series of pileups that killed two people and injured dozens of others, and reopened Interstate 68 to holiday travelers. A jumble of cars, trucks and tractor-trailers had jammed the roadway and shoulders after the pileups began along a fogshrouded mountain ridge in Finzel, Md., on Friday afternoon. Saturday, strong winds still carried the smell of gasoline up to a half-mile away. “The magnitude of vehicles and the damage and devastation was mind-boggling,” said a state police spokesman. One of the victims was killed after leaving his vehicle. The other was a passenger in a car. At least 60 other people were injured, including one hospitalized in critical condition Saturday. The accidents started when a truck hit a van and the van overturned in the westbound lanes, starting a series of chain reactions. In the eastbound lanes, someone slowed down to watch what was happening and was struck, starting another chain reaction. Visibility had been near zero on Big Savage Mountain, an Appalachian ridge. In Nebraska, travel on Interstate 80, the nation’s busiest highway and the major east-west corridor, was being rerouted Saturday after a tractor-trailer hit a bridge support, causing part of the bridge to collapse. The driver of the truck was killed in the collapse, and a 10- mile stretch of 1-80 near Big Springs, just northeast of the Colorado border, was shut down indefinitely. An AP poll found that most travelers weren’t going to let worries about terrorism and the economy interfere with plans this year. But Americans were more likely to drive to their holiday destinations than before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
