Minister under fire for bungling digitization of construction permits system

Regional Development Minister Ivan Bartoš fom the Pirate Party is under fire for persisting problems with the newly digitized system of construction management which has drawn complaints from civil servants around the country. The opposition parties are calling on him to resign and the minister’s coalition partners have indicated that if the system is not working smoothly by the end of August he should accept political responsibility for the failure.

The problems have significantly slowed the processing of construction permits with expert saying that the resulting losses could amount to billions of crowns and make newly constructed housing more expensive. Digitization in construction management was expected to reduce the construction permit processes from an average of 5.4 years to 1.25 years.