The minister completed the fire academy project in Hradec Králové

Prague/Hradec Králové - The massive training center for firefighters, which was supposed to be built at the airport in Hradec Králové, will not be constructed, according to the server Novinky.cz. The termination of the project was confirmed by the spokesperson of the General Directorate of the Fire and Rescue Service (HZS), Radek Kislinger, stating that the order to stop the project was given with immediate effect by the Minister of the Interior, Radek John.
    "The minister ordered to halt all preparatory work related to the mentioned project," Kislinger said without providing further details. The decision is likely due to the government's effort to save money, the server reported.
    The center, named the Academy of the Fire and Rescue Service of the Czech Republic, was supposed to be built at the Hradec airport; firefighters announced a competition for the training center documentation in mid-October. It was intended to be operational from 2015. A modern training facility is still lacking for rescuers in the Czech Republic, and according to firefighters, the Czech Republic is the last country in the EU without such a center. The estimated value of the contract amounts to 16.7 million crowns excluding VAT. The total value of the facility is about 1.8 billion crowns, of which 85 percent was to be covered by the European Union.
    All components of the integrated rescue system were to be educated there. A move of the Institute of Population Protection from Lázně Bohdaneč was also planned, and it was to include research capacities and specialized laboratories, for example for chemists. Firefighters intended to collaborate with universities in Hradec Králové and Pardubice.
    Next year, the project, which is part of the Integrated Operational Program approved by the European Commission back in 2007, was to undergo an environmental impact assessment (EIA), obtain a zoning decision, and receive approval at the national level. Final approval from the European Commission was expected during the first half of 2012.
    The city also invested considerable resources into the preparations. "Among other things, it provided land at a symbolic price. The city should request the return of these under the same conditions. But the city hall employees also devoted a lot of time and effort to the preparation of this project. It's hard to estimate, but the city hall invested an amount in the millions into the preparations," Novinky.cz quotes the former deputy mayor of Hradec Králové, Josef Malíř.