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Love is in the Air?
They won the Civil Organization of the Year award in
2006. The award raised recognition both in Hungary
and internationally of their work towards the advancement
of public health and preservation of the environment.
The Air Taskforce (Leveg Munkacsoport) is
incredibly professional in civil activism. It puts forward
suggestions for solutions to serious problems. We
spoke with András Lukács, managing director.
In the last six years the situation’s deteriorated so much that,
because of lack of funding, you had to suspend your advising
services. How come the needed funds couldn’t be gathered either
through grants or government aid?
Our advisory offi ce offered free help in environmental matters to about 3000
people via phone, e-mail, letter, or personal meetings. But while this function
was upheld by three people working full time until now, this year there will only
be one person handling these matters, twelve hours a week. Recently, the level
of government aid handed out to civil organizations for environmental protection
has been decreased to a fraction of what it once was. Because of the
crisis, companies and private citizens have also been less charitable.
You have organized rallies against tour buses that cause noise
and air pollution on the road leading up to the Buda Castle. How
environmentally aware are tourists traveling through the country?
It is not the tourists with whom we have confl icts, but the authorities. We
prepared detailed proposals to substantially reduce the enormous pollution
caused by tour buses and especially the local sightseeing buses on several
roads. Among others, we proposed alternative routes and parking places. Only
low-emission sightseeing buses should be allowed to operate. Unfortunately,
the authorities ignore our proposals and the protests of residents although
these measures would benefi t tourism, too.
Most recently you’ve written a study about the BKV (Budapest
Transport Company), which is currently having serious monetary
troubles, and you’ve put forward a cost-effective alternative
plan for the city. In short: what is it about exactly?
The average age of the BKV buses is 18 years. These buses are extremely
polluting, the passengers can often smell the toxic exhaust gases even inside
the bus. We pointed out that in recent years in Bucharest the public transport
bus fl eet was completely renewed. We proposed means to secure fi nancial
sources for the bus renewal. The truck entry fee should be raised – in Bucharest
this fee is 10 to 15 times higher than in Budapest. A congestion charge
should be introduced, too.
At www.levego.hu/en/donate you can fi nd detailed information on how you
can support the organization.
To read the rest of the interview visit www.funzine.hu
First Steps
Prime movers
BUDAPEST FUNZINE 7