The taxpayers’ association impales cost explosions, bad purchases and supposed pranks every year. Two ministries get their fat off this time. And then there would be an expensive footbridge and a bookcase for giants.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – The taxpayers’ association in Baden-Württemberg is targeting two state ministries in particular in its “black book” on the waste of public funds this year. The association has severely criticized the purchase of 1,000 Chinese ventilators during the corona pandemic, almost all of which are now gathering dust in the basements and warehouses of the clinics. The Ministry of Health spent 53 million euros on this without asking the hospitals beforehand whether they needed the devices at all. “If this had happened, the expenditure of many millions of euros in acquisition costs and thousands of euros in maintenance costs could have been avoided,” says the “Black Book”, which was published on Wednesday.
Warning of debacle in nursing chamber
In the chapter “Waste threatens”, the taxpayers’ association warns Minister of Health Manne Lucha (Greens) against founding a nursing chamber for a lot of money. Although such chambers in Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein were closed again after a few years, Lucha is sticking to his plans. Actually, employees should be able to have more say with the help of the nursing chamber. But the Verdi union also has serious doubts as to whether this will succeed. The biggest problem, however, is likely to be: All nurses would have to become a member of the chamber and pay a compulsory contribution. With regard to the “expensive flop” in other countries, the taxpayers’ association warns: “Such a debacle must not be repeated in Baden-Württemberg.”
“Money does not matter?” Hermann promotes e-car drivers and cyclists
Like the state audit office in the summer, the taxpayers’ association is taking a hard stance on transport minister Winfried Hermann (Greens). The reason for this are various funding programs to encourage drivers to switch to an electric car. It is incomprehensible that the state is offering other bonuses such as the “BW e-Solar voucher”, although the federal government is already giving tax money of up to 6,000 euros for the purchase of an e-vehicle. For the state government, the motto obviously applies here: “Money doesn’t matter,” complained the taxpayers’ association. It is not acceptable for the state to engage in a “outbidding competition for funding programs” with the federal government.
The association also has zero sympathy for Hermann’s campaign “Pendler Brezel” in favor of cyclists. On five days in May and June, cyclists who rode their bikes to work could pick up a free pretzel from 650 participating bakeries in the morning. The ministry sponsored the campaign with over 58,000 euros. That was an “unnecessary PR campaign at the expense of taxpayers”.
And again Ministry of Transport: With an app it should be possible in the future to handle road construction sites in the southwest better. According to the taxpayers’ association, the costs for the so-called integrator app are estimated at around 200,000 euros. The problem: The construction industry doesn’t want to take part because they don’t want to simply pass on their data. Here, too, the taxpayers’ association complained: It would have been good to exchange information with the industry before developing the app. Now there is a risk “that the previous costs will increase significantly or that the expenditure will even be of no use at all”.
A “Baukultures exclamation mark” with tripled costs
The city of Aalen in the Ostalb district experienced a veritable explosion in costs with their plans for a footbridge that is to connect the city center with the so-called city oval at the train station. At the very beginning of the planning, in 2015, it was still said that the project should cost three million euros. A few years later it was said that the city had underestimated the costs and that the project should have been put out to tender throughout Europe. The costs are now estimated at almost 10.4 million euros, and construction began in May. Nevertheless, the city is proud of the footbridge, which is said to be 141 meters long and span 19 tracks. According to the city’s website, it is not only an “important pedestrian bridge, but also a cultural exclamation mark”.
Bookcase for giants in Mössingen
In the local newspaper there was already talk of a “sign book prank”: In Mössingen near Tübingen, a public bookcase was set up in the Bahnhofstrasse, but only very tall people can get to the top shelf. The 2.60 meter high cabinet was built on a 40 centimeter high concrete base. Cost point: 15,000 euros. The city is remorseful: “Unfortunately, there was an error in the planning as far as the height of the top bookshelf was concerned,” said the town hall, according to the taxpayers’ association.
