Piše: Lea Kalc Fulanič
A few days ago, the lines of vehicles heading towards the Primorska region were longer than usual for the season. People likely took advantage of the day off on Monday to create an extended weekend until Tuesday and enjoy a short getaway. There is nothing wrong with that. However, the day of solidarity, as determined by the government, was intended more to help in the flooded areas. Many people did go there in an organised manner, but it is not feasible for all 900,000 employed Slovenians to visit these areas in a single day during their additional day off. An extra workday, the proceeds of which would contribute to flood relief, would be highly welcome. Reports circulate that with such a day, it would be possible to construct several hundred new prefabricated houses.
Even the government these days does not set an example of the solidarity that the flood-affected areas need most at this time – physical removal of the aftermath of the storm. Most ministers will merely be touring the flooded areas, with only a few of them actually picking up a shovel. But flood-stricken citizens truly do not need politicians’ solidarity through visits and empty promises, which seem to be the government’s mainstay. The times of socialism, when we were deceived with such performances, have passed. What counts today is physical assistance and material support.
Even more absurd is this day of solidarity when considering news from Poland, where they will be collecting money for Slovenian flood victims even during church masses, not to mention the convoys that departed from Ukraine, where a war has been raging for a year. This is the kind of solidarity that truly deserves this title.
What currently remains a concern is the danger of diesel fuel prices rising if the government does not regulate excise taxes. What does this mean at a time when numerous diesel-powered machinery is struggling with debris, landslides, mud, sand, rocks, destroyed crops in fields, torn-up roads, and collapsed bridges? When a convoy of trucks and other vehicles travels to Carinthia, Styria, Upper Carniola to aid in one of the biggest disasters our country has faced so far? If this is the solidarity that the government keeps talking about, then they are lying to our faces, just as they have many times before. “E il popolo paga” (And the people will pay again), as the Italians would say.