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The Poznań County - -Polish G18-
Interview with Jan Grabkowski,
Staroste of The Poznań County
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- Mr. Staroste, how can you
briefly describe the Poznań County?
- G-18.
- Which means?
- It is a comparison to the G8, the group of the
most affluent countries in the world. The Poznań
County is one of the richest in Poland and it
is an organism comprising 18 local government
units. Apart from Poznań, 17 other well-developed
municipalities form the whole structure.
- Isn't it a far-fetched description?
- I don't think so. The County of Poznań has a
population of nearly 300,000, which makes it the
largest county in Poland. Companies with international
renown and large commercial networks have placed
their investments there. A clothing industry potentate
from Sweden is building one of the largest distribution
centers in Europe there. It is also in the county
that one the firsts private science and technology
parks in Poland was established. The sixth position
(out of 379 counties in Poland) in the rating
of the Association of Polish Counties best reflects
the strong position of the Poznań County on the
national arena. To compare, the Wrocław County
is ranked 186th*.
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Najnowocześniejsze autobusy na świecie produkowane
są w fabryce Solaris Bus & Coach
w Bolechowie/State-of-the-art buses are manufactured
at the Solaris Bus & Coach factory in Bolechowo
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- This position must be a result of your
eight-years long cooperation with local municipalities
and the acquisition of funds from several sources,
including the EU.
- Probably yes. My officers and I are looking
for funds wherever it is possible. At present,
we are applying for funding from the Norwegian
and the European Economic Area Financial Mechanisms.
With the use of these funds, we want to build
nine sports facilities at high schools across
the county. Moreover, we want to establish an
open recreation zone for the needs of residents
of Socio-Educational Center for Visually Impaired
Children in Owińska and other inhabitants of the
region. We plan to establish an Inter-Municipal
Waste Association, which will focus on well thought-out
waste management, and as a result the construction
of a state-of-the-art waste incinerator. We also
think about a county-level animal shelter. At
present, we are utilizing asbestos with the use
of means coming from the Provincial Environmental
Protection, county and municipal funds.
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Os. Przylesie - Suchy Las/The Przylesie
Housing Estate in Suchy Las
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- For years, the need of acting on an agglomeration
level has been broadly discussed. What do you
think about that? Can this idea be conducive for
the county?
- I am a keen supporter of the idea, especially
as strong bonds between Poznań and other municipalities
of the county are clearly visible. In the recent
years, the relations have been intensified, among
others, thanks to extensive flow of goods and
service exchanges. However, the basic link are
people, who live across the county and work or
study in Poznań. Moreover, the opposite trend
is also appearing. This is thinking about those
people that I have decided to launch activities
aimed at the establishment and implementation
of the agglomeration policy', especially as problems
and issues appear that can be solved only thanks
to the cooperation of the three entities: city,
county and municipality.
- And how should the cooperation look like?
- We want to appoint the Agglomeration Council,
which will set the fields of cooperation and areas,
in which we can together apply for funding from
the European Union. We intend to commission studies,
which will show us, where it is more profitable
to act individually and in which cases to act
jointly. We must remember that the city and the
county form an organism that has a population
reaching 900,000, and our work should contribute
to the improvement of their standards of living.
- Do you believe the plan is feasible?
- Absolutely! Because of the backwardness resulting
from the past era, we must be catching up with
the double force. We have done a lot and in several
spheres our solutions are more modern than western
European ones. However, a lot is still to be done.
Roads and health protection, these are the most
important problems. By implementing the tasks
jointly, we are more efficient, e.g. in applying
for EU funding. Sooner or later, everybody will
realize that it is better to act jointly, also
on the agglomeration level, in order to achieve
success.
* data from www.zpp.pl
-as of 18 April 2007.
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