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Come to Us
Panorama talks with Ryszard Bogusz,
Mayor of Skierniewice
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SKIERNIEWICE
A city in northeast part of the Łódź Region with
a population of 50,000 is a county seat. It has
considerable reserves in the use of natural gas,
ground water, and access to geothermal water.
Efficiently operating institutions that service
business make Skierniewice an attractive spot
for investors. Moreover, among its advantages
are low land prices. Across the globe, Skierniewice
is known mainly thanks to national horticultural
center; the Institute of Fruit and Flower Farming
and the Institute of Vegetable Farming. Skierniewice
is also a thriving cultural center. For several
years, Festival of Romantic Music, Festival of
Organ and Chamber Music, Ethnosfera Festival of
Folk and Etno Music, and Poland-wide Horticultural
Harvest Festival, Skierniewice Flower, Fruit and
Vegetable Festival have been held there. Moreover,
the city has a broad tourist offer, which includes
several historic sights, among them the palace
and park complex of Gniezno Bishops, a former
railroad station of Warsaw-Vienna Rail, together
with an engine house, as well as services of Classic
Sports and Recreation Center and Nawa Municipal
Swimming Pool. In the summer, you can have a rest
at the Zadębie Water Reservoir and in Bolimowo
Ladscape Park, which neighbors on Skierniewice.
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- Has Skierniewice benefited from Poland's
accession to the European Union?
- I believe that the accession of our country
to the European Union, not only for Skierniewice,
had a purely symbolic meaning, as we started international
cooperation much earlier. For many years, our
city has maintained partner relationships with
many cities in Europe. Together with Chatelaillon-Plage,
our twin city in France, we have implemented several
projects with the use of funds coming from the
EU budget. We have also benefited from pre-accession
funds. A project entitled Activation of Economic
Potential in the Region of Skierniewice was presented
in Brussels in 2002 and approved, thanks to which
the city was awarded EUR 4,820,000. This can be
called a form of exercise prior to mastering the
difficult art of acquiring structural funds. Moreover,
Skierniewice is one of European partners of BUGA
2007 project, which is a Federal Horticultural
Exhibition staged in Gera. Together with the Czechs
and Slovaks, we are implementing a project in
the field of culture entitled the Festival of
Three Suns. Nevertheless, we have all been pleased
with the opening of EU borders. Many Poles, among
them residents of Skierniewice, took up education
and work in EU states. This bodes well for the
future.
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- Being a city in an EU member state, what
steps have you taken to acquire funds for Skierniewice
from the community sources?
- An opportunity appeared for swifter development
of our local government little motherlands. Skierniewice
has applied for financial means earmarked for
local authorities as part of various community
programs. I believe we have a lot to pride ourselves
on, as out of twelve submitted applications, as
much as seven obtained financial support. Skierniewice
has raised about PLN 24,761,064 for the town's
budget. We are also implementing several social
projects. For example, students of Skierniewice
schools obtain scholarships from EU funds.
- Mr. Mayor, are investments aimed at environmental
protection planned in the near future?
- Water, sewerage and communal waste management
form the most urgent, and also the most difficult
and expensive tasks that several local governments
in our country need to complete. However, it is
not only them that constitute ecological policy
of the city. For a start, we have prepared all
documents indispensable for the implementation
of active ecological policy, including: Strategy
for the Development of the City of Skierniewice
for the Years 2000-2015, Study for the Conditions
and Directions of Spatial Development in the City,
Environmental Protection Program, and Waste Management
Plan for Skierniewice for the Years 2004-2011.
With the use of EU funds, we have been modernizing
a sewage treatment plant. Next year, we will commence
the project consisting in the construction of
a sanitary sewage system in the eastern part of
the city. We have submitted an application to
the Cohesion Fund for the construction of comprehensive
rain sewage system. For five years, we have been
expanding a system of solid waste selection. I
have not mentioned several other activities aimed
at improving water and air protection. We have
been successful also in this field, but instead
of listing them, I would like to use the opportunity
of meeting the readers of Panorama in the first
days of the New Year and wish you, and the editors,
making all your dreams come true this new year
and that 2006 is the time of well used opportunities.
Anna Zatorska
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