People responsible for red sludge disaster must pay: Hungarian PM
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Those responsible for the sludge deluge that killed seven, sent 150 people to hospital with caustic burns, rendered parts of three villages uninhabitable and jeopardized domestic and international waterways would be punished, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Saturday.
Speaking at a news conference here, Orban pointed to the loss of life and general devastation. "Those responsible must be called to account," he said, adding that the punishment would be in proportion to the harm caused.
Orban also announced the government was establishing a damage mitigation fund to assist disaster victims. He promised the government would not abandon anyone.
"All of Hungary has been hit by this disaster, and all Hungarians have been injured no matter where they live, so pulling together becomes an issue of self-respect," the prime minister said. Anyone, anywhere in the world, can contribute to this fund, which will speed up efforts to move disaster victims into new homes, he said.
Orban said the threat was not over and it was still too early to estimate the cost of the toxic spill. He warned that the containment reservoir wall had weakened, and could give way despite ongoing efforts to bolster it.
Orban announced that the government had called on former New York State Governor George Pataki, whose ethnic roots are Hungarian, to help boost support in the United States. He had agreed to join the effort. He also revealed the Open Society Foundation founded by George Soros, another ethnic Hungarian, had already pledged one million dollars.
He said the Hungarian Aluminum Manufacturing and Trading Company, MAL, was cooperating with the government, but that did not undo the suffering. He noted that 3,000 jobs were at stake and the people who caused this tragedy could not be trusted to protect those jobs.
People who did not want to return to their damaged homes would be able to move into available homes in various parts of the country or could receive new homes in reconstructed portions of their own villages, he said.
Meanwhile, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) issued a media briefing in Vienna, using photographic evidence to demonstrate that the reservoir walls had been leaking as early as June. The aerial photo shows that the walls were damaged and the toxic mud was leaking into the ditch surrounding the manufacturing facility at that time.
