Even documents about the future of the capital's zoo are being circulated in the city council with the label "restricted access." Soon, there will be another construction of the century!
The first question on the agenda of the working meeting of the city council was the idea of introducing 1 hour of free parking at the Central Market, which arose among the opposition after discussions with market traders. However, the mayor, citing that the idea was not properly formulated, did not put it to a vote. "I admit that there are 60 deputies in this hall who have relevant proposals," said Mayor Viesturs Kleinbergs regarding this matter.
How to Become a City Minister
They began addressing personnel issues. The current acting director, Dace Ziediņa, was nominated for the position of director of the Department of Housing and Environment. Previously, she worked as the head of the department at the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development. Her achievements include the development of Riga's housing strategy. Presenting the candidate, the chairwoman of the Riga City Council Committee on Housing and Environment, Elīna Treija (National Alliance), prioritized the collection of housing fees and solving waste management issues. A new cemetery concept is also being prepared in Riga – E. Treija noted that currently, only 1/3 of Riga residents arrange "fire burials" for their loved ones, and this share needs to be increased to 2/3.
Your author asked Ms. Ziediņa, who also oversees the Department of Environment and Plantings, why the Skanstes park is still fenced off with yellow tape and barriers. Mr. Kleinbergs immediately interjected, stating that this question was not relevant to the discussion, and soon all playgrounds would be opened. I then inquired why a young, lovely tree was recently cut down in Viesturdarzs Park, near the state monument No. 86 (a stone in honor of the elm planted by Peter the Great). The head promised to check.
Vyacheslav Stepanenko, in turn, asked E. Treija what would happen to cemetery workers with the directive implementation of cremation for the deceased.
– Believe me, they will be in demand in the market, – said the chairwoman.
Lyubov Shvetsova raised the issue of joining the capital's zoo to the Rīgas meži enterprise. In this regard, Dace Ziediņa stated that a strategy is being prepared for the zoo, expressing a good wish to "make the zoo interesting not only for Riga residents but also for tourists."
Edvards Šlesers expressed the need to timely stock up on resources for the next heating season, which is particularly important in the current geopolitical situation. Edgars Ikstens elaborated on the "development of the housing stock," in the context of which it is necessary to attract more EU funds for insulating houses and repairing intra-block passages.
Summarizing the debates, V. Stepanenko stated that D. Ziediņa is a political appointee and that a competition for the position should have been organized. In the end, she was approved with 46 votes. Then the current acting directors – Raivis Knox, director of the Riga Center for Outskirts Residents, and Ivars Balamovskis, director of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, were duly appointed to their positions.
School Kungs – Wonderful
Julia Stepanenko doubted the sincerity of the last nominee – "considering the very uncomfortable situation when the closure of several kindergartens was prepared in secret." Nevertheless, I. Balamovskis is confident that everything has been done correctly, with the participation of the educational institutions themselves:
– There are no indications that any points should be canceled.
Vice Mayor Vilnis Kiršis (New Unity) assured that Mr. Balamovskis is "doing excellently" with the management of 280 municipal educational and cultural institutions. However, Aija Melle (Progressives) noted that the candidate, who was once the director of the Ādaži Secondary School, sings in a choir and rides a bicycle in the mountains...
– The number of children is declining, there is no one to teach, – noted Ainārs Šlesers in his speech, suggesting that inviting foreign language speakers to schools would make our education an "export commodity."
– Our goal as a small state is for children to graduate from school speaking at least 4 languages.
Vyacheslav Stepanenko instructed I. Balamovskis to stop the trips of deputies from the ruling coalition to educational institutions with unauthorized "inspections."
In Mežaparks – with the Whole Family
"Four seasons to attract vacationers," – such a task was set before the reorganized urban space by deputy Elīna Treija (National Alliance). The Riga Zoo is a capital company with limited resources, so it is necessary to merge it with the wealthier Rīgas meži (RM).
– This merger will not affect the brand in any way, – stated the head of the Housing and Environment Committee.
In Europe, zoo subsidies account for about 60%, while in Riga, the city and state provide only 43%. However, in the near future, RM, with a turnover of 21.5 million euros, will create "synergy" with the zoo. For now, the latter is "below any criticism" in terms of liquidity, said E. Treija.
Unfortunately, no representative of the zoo attended the important question in the council. Therefore, deputy Arturs Kleibahks expressed doubt that the number of visitors could be increased from 300,000 per year to a million.
Himalaji is one of the most ambitious zoo projects, for which more than 8 million euros are planned to be spent, likely through a loan. A. Kleibahks stated that a similar facility, Savanna, has already been created, but people did not flock there.
According to E. Treija, 2/3 of the facilities in the zoo are "morally and physically outdated," and overall it is extremely inefficient in terms of energy.
They also discussed the Kurzeme branch Cīruļi – it turned out that the land there is state-owned, while the buildings belong to Riga. On 137 hectares, a couple of dozen animals live, which can be observed in safari conditions. However, as the head of the Capital Companies Administration Ilze Spule-Statkus admitted, this establishment incurs about 200,000 euros in losses per year. It can certainly be closed – but it is unclear what to do with the animals there, some of which are quite large and dangerous bears.
The official also acknowledged that most of the zoo's visitors were previously tourists from Russia and Belarus, and now they are trying to attract visitors from Poland and Scandinavia.
On the other hand, the Riga Zoo, although it will cease to be a separate SIA, will retain state subsidies, as it performs the function of rescuing seals and providing shelter for our smaller brothers, which are confiscated at customs.
However, even regarding the zoo, "geopolitical risks" may arise, noted deputy Lyubov Shvetsova. Therefore, it is worth considering once again whether the city should take on another loan...
