Mailbox
In this week's edition of Mailbox: May competition winner, the new Roma Parliament's first session, the Diag Human case. Listeners quoted: Marcello Blasco and Michael Bent.
"On your website I read your report about the Roma Parliament. Forgive me, but I have to say that I'm very sceptical! When you asked one of its members if it is serious enough and if the authorities and other important organisations in your country will respect it, the man said yes. So what has it done, is there any result?"
Well, it's too early to say Mr Blasco. The Roma Parliament wasn't formed until May this year. But it did have its first session on Tuesday. According to its Chairman Milan Scuka, the decision was made to propose to the Czech Government and Parliament to introduce an affirmative action law to use a quota system to allocate jobs in state bodies and institutions, so that at least ten percent of the state's employees are Roma. Mr Scuka says that the Roma community is always labelled as a lazy minority that doesn't want to work. This would prove that there are many Roma who can and want to fill the positions. But as I said, it was the first meeting and was held last Tuesday, so we will have to wait and see whether it's really going to put forward such a proposal and how it will be welcomed by the cabinet and parliament.
Michael Bent sent us an e-mail from somewhere in the Czech Republic with the following request:
It's the Health Ministry that is concerned and it's going to be very difficult to explain it in the little time I have but since one other listener has asked the same question, I'll try to give you a simple explanation. Back in the early 1990s (I think it was in 1992), Martin Bojar, who was Czech health minister at the time, questioned the reputation of a company called Diag Human (it used to be called Conneco), which is a company dealing with blood plasma. The company then sued the health ministry, saying that minister Bojar's derogatory remarks resulted in severe financial losses. The state ended up paying the company over 326 million Czech crowns.
However, an investigation is still underway to determine how much Diag Human suffered in losses and whether it is to be compensated further or whether the state paid too much. The current Czech Health Minister Jozef Kubinyi, has ordered a law firm to look into the matter and claims new evidence has been found that could be used to prove Diag Human should not have been compensated. He says former health ministers and those involved in the case should have investigated more and made better decisions. Minister Kubinyi has furthermore stated that his predecessor Marie Souckova may have abused her power as minister when she signed a contract with a lawyer without a public tender. If his suspicions are confirmed, he says, charges will be pressed against her.
COMPETITIONS:
MAY ANSWER AND WINNER:
Question: "May 12th 2004 marked the 120th anniversary of the death of the famous Czech composer Bedrich Smetana. Where was he buried?"
Answer: the Vysehrad cemetery in Prague
A CD with music by Bedrich Smetana is on the way to...
Peter Zouny, from West Sussex, in the UK - CONGRATULATIONS!!!
June question: "There will be nine anniversaries in June. Which of the musicians commemorated was born exactly one hundred years ago?"
Please get your answers to us by June 30th.
Annual Competition: You still have two days to write and send us a few lines on what Czech music means to you. Now, I've been asking you to send at least half a page but one listener e-mailed me saying that "a few lines" is different from "at least half a page". Well, anything will stand a chance as long as it's unique and interesting. The main prize is a week in Prague and since many of you have sent in good entries, there'll also be a number of attractive runner-up prizes. You have until June 15 to get your answers to us.
Contact address: Radio Prague English Section, 120 99 Prague 2, the Czech Republic or by e-mail to [email protected].
