Tallinn politician: City's goal is to clear all sidewalks of snow by 2025
Tallinn will not clear all sidewalks of snow on its own this winter, despite the new ruling coalition's promise. This is partly due to the previous city government's inaction, said Riina Solman, head of Isamaa's Tallinn district, in an interview with ERR. However, Isamaa hopes that by next winter, the city will be responsible for maintaining all sidewalks.
The coalition agreement in Tallinn states: "We will relieve property owners of the obligation to maintain and clear city-owned sidewalks of snow in winter. We will take on this responsibility for the city and implement it as soon as possible." However, while introducing the supplementary budget last week, Deputy Mayor Pärtel-Peeter Pere (Reform) said that this winter, the city will take responsibility for clearing a quarter of the sidewalks that have so far been maintained by property owners. This will likely occur in the Kesklinn (City Center) and Põhja-Tallinn districts.
Like Pere, Solman also referred to existing snow removal contracts, which cannot be significantly altered all at once. Moreover, the supplementary budget allocates funds for many other needs that, according to Solman, were neglected by the previous city government.
"In addition to snow removal, several other issues left unresolved by the previous city administration needed addressing, such as partial funding for transportation for people with disabilities. Similarly, we had to deal with the current government's inaction by supporting Tallinn teachers and the transition to fully Estonian-language education," said Solman.
Solman noted that Isamaa wanted the city to take on a larger share of snow removal than what is planned in the supplementary budget.
"We proposed procuring the service from the private sector. However, sufficient funds for this were not found in the supplementary budget. Currently, the deputy mayor for communal services (Pärtel-Peeter Pere) believes that the Department of Communal Services can initially ensure snow removal only in the Kesklinn and Põhja-Tallinn districts. Isamaa's goal is to free all city residents from this obligation, and we aim to support this in the 2025 budget," said Solman.
At the same time, the supplementary budget plans for the city to hire additional personnel and purchase equipment for snow removal. Starting from September 1, 23 new positions will be created and eight new machines will be purchased for the Kadrioru Park agency, which falls under the Environmental and Communal Services Department.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Marcus Turovski
