"Krone" commentary

MCI new-build canceled: Empty coffers wherever you look

(Bild: stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

Tyrol's Governor Anton Mattle has pulled the ripcord on the new Management Center Innsbruck (MCI) building, which has been planned for many years. For Claus Meinert, editor-in-chief of the "Tiroler Krone" newspaper, this is certainly "better than continuing to drag our feet with no foreseeable end in sight".

Courage and independence - attributes that the "Krone" stands for. And which are more in demand than ever in politics in times like these. Of course, three different parties are currently demonstrating "courage" at federal level, but it is more of a desperate nature. They want to bring the best of three worlds into one, but in order to secure posts and sinecures. As far as independence in politics and the people who work there are concerned, any comment is superfluous. They simply do not exist.

The end of this new MCI building is one with horrors - around 30 (!) million euros in planning costs have been wasted. But it's still better than just sitting on the fence with no foreseeable end in sight.

Claus Meinert

The Management Center Innsbruck is proof of how slowly the mills grind in this area. There have been years of discussions - beating about the bush and everything else. Nobody had the independent courage to put all the cards on the table. Instead, people fiddled and fussed around. Until the day before yesterday. Interestingly, on a Friday the 13th, LH Anton Mattle may have run into a black cat from the right, which is supposed to bring bad luck.

However, it is more likely that another fact was decisive and led to the insight: Empty coffers wherever you look - whether in many municipalities, at state or federal level. At the latter, the ÖVP, SPÖ and Neos have been clucking for weeks without having laid a single egg. The end of this new MCI building is one with horrors - around 30 (!) million euros in planning costs have been wasted. But it's still better than just dragging your feet with no foreseeable end in sight. Private entrepreneurs would probably have pulled the ripcord on the MCI project sooner.