Roads and Highways Directorate accused of spending loans on luxury items

The Supreme Board of Inspection (NIK) has completed an inspection of the activities of the General Directorate for National Roads and Highways (GDDKiA). The check revealed that from 1999 to 3Q of 2002, officials from GDDKiA had spent money designated for road construction and modernization, on designing their offices, holiday spas, or on purchasing luxury cars. They have even acquired a motorboat, which, as management explained following the NIK report, was indispensable for the overhauling of bridges. The money came from road construction loans granted by the World Bank, Phare and the European Investment Bank. In this way, GDDKiA has increased the value of its possessions by zł. 17.6 million, out of which over zł. 6.7 million was spent on 175 new cars. In a statement, GDDKiA claims that "a different group of people from the directorate is responsible for these deeds." (Rzeczpos polita, p. B1) K.Z.