BUSINESS
Investing Into
Infrastructure is Key
For a City in the Middle of a Crisis,
It Is an Investment Into the Future
What is his evaluation of the four years he spent as mayor? What were and are the strategic
priorities in the city’s development? We probed Josef Bělica, mayor of Havířov, for some answers.
Josef Bělica
Primátor Havířova
Mayor of Havířov
Do you still remember the moment when
you first sat down in your office as mayor?
Yes I do, I remember being very honored by
the fact that the voters trusted me. From my
first moments in the position, and throughout
the four years that followed, I conducted
my work with a great sense of respect that
I have for the city as a native Havířov citizen
and patriot. Being mayor also comes with
a great deal of responsibility, being able to
have the ability to develop the city.
What were your plans?
There were many of them, and I am happy
to say that we managed to complete, or
at least begin the realization of most of
them. Of course, I am not the only one
to be credited for this - the town hall has
a great team at its disposal and I consider
it an honor to be surrounded by so many
highly competent people that all play
their part in realizing our visions. One
of our main priorities was elevating the
train station and its surroundings to
another level.
What other accomplishments have
you achieved throughout your four
years as mayor?
It is common knowledge that money plays
an important role, and so we directed
a lot of our efforts into properly managing
our budget. We limited unnecessary
expenses and invested into issues that
trouble our citizens and came up with
solutions that would improve their lives.
Some may object and say that we need
to save money during a crisis, however,
I believe that investing into infrastructure
is key for a city in the middle of a crisis, it is
an investment into the future.
Can you tell us more specifically about
what you did as mayor?
I will try to be as concise as possible.
First, we invested into housing that had
been previously neglected. This involved
the replacement of a total of 139 lifts in
apartment complexes, which was part
of a country-wide contract. In addition
to that, we also completely renovated
a number of apartments, and invested
into the distribution of electricity in
our city. A large amount of funds were
also invested into IT infrastructure for
the municipality, and this program is now
continuing to involve schools and other
city organizations. This, of course, does not
directly involve citizens, however, if we did
not properly deal with this now, it would
cost us a lot in the future. We renovated
the Hlavní třída, Dlouhá třída and Dělnická
třída streets, and are now working on
Národní třída street. Almost a thousand
new parking spots were constructed and
we invested into the development of our
schools and kindergartens. I would also
like to highlight the modernization of our
healthcare centers, which remained largely
untouched after the revolution, and I was
frankly embarrassed about their previous
state. Today, everything is different. I am
truly proud of these accomplishments and
they bring me a lot of joy.
Mr Mayor, thank you for the interview.
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