The "kings of asphalt" protected by Cotroceni Palace monopolize all the building works in Bucharest and this is why traffic gets at a standstill. This is what the Romanian PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu claimed yesterday, assailing the Romanian President Traian Basescu and the Democrat mayor of Bucharest, Adriean Videanu, one more time. The PM said it at the opening of the second car passage in Baneasa quarter. The owners of come companies working to rebuild Bucharest roads have replied that the PM's opinion is ungrounded and they claim their companies have got the technical capacity to carry out the projects and meet deadlines. Mayor Videanu denied the accusations too. Apologizing to Bucharest inhabitants "There are these nice kings of asphalt, protected by Cotroceni Palace, who want to grab everything, but they don't have enough labor force and technical capacity to carry out projects. They open lots of construction sites in Bucharest and then they move people and equipment to other places. (...) This is the reason why Bucharest traffic is disturbed, which means disrespect for citizens", the PM commented. He announced he would demand the National Authority for Monitoring Public Acquisitions to check on the distribution of contracts for infrastructure works and modify legislation in such a way to forbid companies disobeying contracts to reach more contracts with state institutions. (...) The PM apologized to the drivers in Bucharest for the traffic in the capital, although, he reminded, he was not the mayor of the city. (...)

Razvan GHEORGHE, Magda SEVERIN