Up to their necks again
Poles once again proved their mettle in the face of calamity last month by pooling their efforts to muddle through the worst flooding this country has seen since 1997. Granted, the damage caused by July's deluge is only expected to tally about one-tenth that of four years ago when more than 40% of the population was affected and 55 people were killed but residents of villages and cities along the Wisla River still had to rely on their finely honed improvisational skills to survive the latest natural disaster. While this is a credit to them, the government also deserves some praise but not too much.
In contrast to 1997, when the then Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) Prime Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz made his famous gaffe that "flood victims themselves are to blame because they weren't insured," the current government's handling of the issue has been far more professional. Given that it's an election year and Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek's cash-strapped government is on the road to nowhere in September, he moved quickly to promise aid to flood victims and put together a preferential loan scheme for them. Coordination among local flood committees and emergency warning systems have also been noticeably improved since 1997.
But based on the lessons that should have been learned four years ago, namely, how to protect Poland from further destruction caused by flooding or other acts of God, the government has continued to drag its feet on coming up with a comprehensive plan. Only last week, when Krakow's Old Town teetered on the brink of submersion, did the government finally act to pass the Civil State of Emergency Bill.
The bill, whose aim is to "provide security to citizens, goods, the environment and national heritage in a situation of danger or crisis," had been enacted by Buzek but backlogged in the Sejm since April 2000.
Why did the government not move on it earlier? If scarcity of cash or other priorities is to be used as an excuse and certainly Solidarity Election Action (AWS) has had its hands full this year with a stodgy economy, tapped budget deficit and meager privatization revenues how will it be able to finance relief for this year's (and future) floods? The international community agrees that climate change is happening and that Poland is in a rain cycle. There will be more floods.
Also interesting last week is the "discovery" of zl. 200 million ($47.6 million) in Buzek's office bank account. The money had been raised via the state lottery to assist victims of the 1997 flood, but for some reason it never made it into their hands. Now the plan is to free up the money for this year's flood victims.
While it's admirable whenever the government decides to do the right thing, it shouldn't wait until it and the average Pole are out of their depth.
