Final Word from Friday, February 26, 2010

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Remember what Miroslav Kalousek said about the privatization of public authority? What he meant was that private interests are making decisions that should be the domain of elected government. In the extreme form, expensive projects are dreamed up with the primary purpose of stealing money, not for achieving the stated goal. Michal Voráček's Opencard project comes immediately to mind. Sazka Arena, another PPA project, was in a league of its own in terms of the pilfering possibilities, but at least something was left standing. Calls by politicians to celebrate and add to Martina Sáblíková's gold medals in Vancouver by building a Kc 1.5bn speed-skating rink fall in the Sazka category. It would no doubt be a beautiful rink, and the country might even objectively need it, but the timing is wrong. Not merely because the budget is in crisis, but also because theft from the budget is booming. Until this changes, there should be a moratorium on tunnel jobs, and Martina should be sent off to Germany to do her training.[Czech Republic speedskating Winter Olympics Canada tunneling tunnelling corruption]