Truck drivers protest against increased tolls in Budapest’s Heroes’ Square on Monday afternoon. Minister of Construction and Transport János Lázár says they are willing to negotiate with anyone, but there is one thing they will not compromise on: the peace and security of the three million people who have been suffering from freight traffic for many years.
Hundreds of truck drivers demonstrated in Heroes’ Square against the increased tolls, reported Index. The protesters wanted to invite János Lázár to join them and hold an impromptu press conference explaining why the tolls needed to be increased.
According to Tibor Orosz, the organizer of the demonstration, their business cannot cope with this. “A negative campaign has been launched against us, János Lázár said that three million Hungarians need to be protected from us. We do not knock them down at crosswalks, we do not cause cracks in the walls of houses.
We are for the people, we are with the people, not against them. We have to make a 200-300 kilometer detour if we can only use the highways, which is unacceptable to us. Such a toll system cannot be implemented,”
said the organizer.
János Lázár did not go to Heroes’ Square, but he posted a message on Facebook. “On December 19, we reached an agreement with the seven leading transport interest groups, which represent nearly 8,500 companies, or 70 percent of the companies working in domestic transport. Tonight, another group of transporters formed at Heroes’ Square, and we will also consult with them. One thing is certain: the shortest and cheapest route is only good for transporters, but hell for those living along the roads,” wrote the Minister of Construction and Transport.
In the minister’s view, the truck convoy in the capital showed Budapest residents what it is like when trucks rumble past their windows. He said that this is part of everyday life for three million Hungarians who raise their children, help their elderly parents, live their lives, go to work, school, or home with trucks roaring past them.
If anyone today thinks that these trucks have no place on the streets of Budapest, ask yourself, what place do they have in other towns on the countryside such as Biharkeresztes, Mátészalka, or anywhere else,”
asked the minister, who said that over the past 15 years, so many highways and motorways have been built that the domestic road network – in proportion to the population – has now reached the level of the most developed Western countries.
We are not raising tolls to make life worse for hauliers, but to make life better for those living along the main roads. It is unacceptable that a truck driver wants to save millions on freight charges at the expense of people living in villages or small towns crossed by a main road. As long as lower-order roads are cheaper or free for trucks, there will continue to be uninhabitable settlements and houses that have become uninhabitable, said János Lázár.
He says that we are willing to negotiate with anyone, but there is one thing we will not compromise on: the peace and safety of the three million people who have been suffering from freight traffic for many years. “Because now their time has come. They have suffered enough,”
said János Lázár.
Via Index; Featured image: MTI/Balogh Zoltán
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