Bianjie

[journey]

Gemun wants to begin the construction of its own metro system "at any cost", mayor says 
9 March 5644



Bianjie's capital city, Gemun is a home to more than two million people, and with the steadily growing population, the need for a more reliable, accessible and enhanced public transit system is growing. A prospect of a metro system in the capital city has been long discussed among the locals, metropolitan administration and the central goverment located in the same city, yet it never came to any reasonable conclusion. With the change of the government, Gemun's administration decided to take the matter in its own hands again, and ask the new government to fund the construction of capital's underground transit. "Obviously, it will not solve the problem of traffic, accessibility for the citizens of the more distant areas of the city, but it is a step in a right way, and the longer we wait and postpone it, the harder it will be to realise", Gemun's mayor Batu Asuke says.

Later the week, new government's infrastructure minister, Yelu Keobunta came out before the press to talk about the position of the government on the matter. Keobunta told the press that "in theory, we absolutely support any betterment of the quality of life of our citizens", but at the same minister pointed out that "this could be either a waste of money, or its laundering", pointing out that any kind of metro will be a huge spending issue currently, especially as the new government has promised to "combat deficits of the previous socialist governments".

Gemun's mayor later also came out with a statement, expressing his disappointment in the State Council and the relevant ministry's decision to not proceed with the funding, accusing the latter of "reversing decades of steady progress" with the decisions like these. Gemun Metropolitan Assembly sent the relevant ministry a 235-pages detailed document, describing the GMA's vision of the underground transit. The plan included a 10-year strategy, which included a construction of two lines, connecting the distant-most living wards of Gemun with the city centre. GMA's reasoning and idea was the stable and reliable transport connection of the workers with their workplaces, and simple comfort for the citizens of the distant wards of the city and the city proper.

By the end of the administration's press conference, mayor Asuke said that the capital city's government will now turn to the Dovani Development Fund for the financial help in realising the plan, which is "not going anywhere". Meanwhile, the local and the national right-of-centre parties are already calling out the mayor for the "pure populism", and attacking the decision to move forward with the construction anyway as a "total financial irresponsibility". But SPP and Asuke are refuting these attacks, instead accusing the opposition local and government nationally for "not caring enough about people" and "serving the corporations".

A shitshow, but in the end, all sides are using taxpayers' money on anything. Though, if one would to advise the people and look into the polling numbers, it is clear that Gemun citizens, especially those living in those same more distant wards are overwhelmingly (~83%) are for the investment in the public transit, with ~56% approving of a capital metro system. So, while parties fight, some might wanna take the matter in their own hands, and do it.



Gemun Post (ゲムンポスト) is a major (previously local) daily newspaper based in Gemun.
#gemun
#metro
#publictransit
#mayorasuke