RAGWEED CONTROL: WHERE’S THE MONEY?

It has not even started but the widely advertised ragweed control programme has foundered. The programme affecting almost two million people has come to a standstill as the Ministry of Agriculture recognized yesterday that the greatest part of the necessary sum, HUF 800 million had been frozen, and officials could not tell how the money collected from taxpayers had disappeared.

Last year an outstanding number of taxpayers, 146 000 offered 1 pc of their income taxes for ragweed control, altogether HUF 835 million but officials said the sum could be found at the Income and Revenue Tax Office while it said yesterday to Magyar Nemzet the sum was sent to the budget under the authority of the Ministry of Finance while the latter said the money was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture, adding that there was no legal way to freeze the money paid by taxpayers for ragweed killing.

Translated by Péter Szentmihályi Szabó