The EU should help the Plzeň Region in schools, museums, and hospitals

Plzeň - The Plzeň Region wants an additional 1.14 billion crowns from the European Union for its cultural facilities, schools, hospitals, and sports facilities. The funds were requested in the so-called fifth call of the Regional Operational Program (ROP) Southwest. The region's council approved the application submission today. In addition, the region will also seek 400 million crowns for the construction of the Klatovy hospital.
    The region intends to use the funds from the fifth call for the first phase of the completion of the open-air museum in Chanovice, the completion and renovation of the museum in Sušice, the restoration of the Jindřich Jindřich Museum in Domažlice, procurement of equipment for hospitals, modernization of classrooms, construction modifications of schools, repairs of roads, and building sports facilities. The regional schools alone are submitting 15 projects worth nearly 300 million crowns. The most expensive plans include the construction of a gymnasium in Rokycany, a sports hall in Tachov, and modernization of schools in Plzeň and Blovice, each costing approximately 40 million crowns.
    The ČSSD, currently leading the region, criticizes its predecessors from the ODS for not securing enough funds for regional organizations in the previous calls of the ROP, with resources often going to private entities. Therefore, the regional administration is now supporting its organizations to submit as many applications as possible.
    Former councilor Jiří Kalista (ODS) pointed out that if regional high schools submit this many applications, there will be little chance left in the relevant chapter of obtaining grants for projects of schools owned by municipalities. "The previous regional leadership underestimated this a bit, and we cannot cover the costs of those schools from our own funds in the current financial crisis, but we want quality education," reacted the Deputy Governor Ivo Grüner (ČSSD). According to him, regional and municipal schools will compete for funding within the established grant allocation rules. In the fifth and sixth calls, over 4.2 billion crowns have been allocated for applicants from the Plzeň and South Bohemian Regions, who have so far been among the most active in the Czech Republic.
    The Director of the Southwest Cohesion Region Council, Jiří Trnka, also warned that there would likely be a significant excess of applications, particularly in the education chapter during the fifth call. By May 22, over 100 applicants had announced their intention to submit applications for education projects, with the deadline for submitting applications for the fifth call being the end of June. In the third call, only 17 applicants received support in the field of education.
    Applicants can consult their intentions and can also conduct a practice assessment of their project. "If their project is not prepared to score around 90 points out of 100, the chance of success is almost zero," warned Trnka.
    Over 17 billion crowns are prepared to be obtained in the ROP Southwest from 2007 to 2013.