Environmentalists Protest against Construction of Second Ski Lift in Bansko

According to them, the presented project for the construction of the second lift in Bulgaria’s ’winter resort of Bansko is only the first step towards the construction of kilometers long ski runs in the forest territory of Pirin Park, which is a protected area. The environmentalists insist that the Council of Ministers cancel the permission for the construction of the ski lift.

Petko Tsvetkov, from "Let Nature Remain in Bulgaria" said that environmentalists described the project for second lift in Bansko as two lines on the map, which do not mean anything. The second lift is actually a PR move to pave the way to building 330 km.of piste and 111 km. Of facilities.

They are of the opinion that this has been clear since 2014 when the concessionaire presented the initial plans.

Petko Tsvetkov added that at the same time, a presentation in Balkanleaks very clearly showed where all the pistes and facilities that they planned to build would be.

The environmental organization also does not believe in the concessionaire's intentions to protect the environment.

Tsvetkov says that the promises of the concessionaire to plant five new trees for one cut tree were ridiculous. “We have heard these promises since 2000,”, he noted. “We do not see this, on the contrary, we see that they plan to develop them, to organize new construction, which is contrary to the law”, Tsvetkov said.

Environmentalists retain their intention for a national protest on January 4th.

The route envisaged in the project for the construction of a second cabin lift in Bansko will only pass through a concession territory and will fall entirely into the buffer zone. This was announced by the concessionaire of the ski resort in the resort town. The assurances are that the forest area through which the new route will pass is only 0.017% of the territory of Pirin National Park.

The concessionaire of the ski zone explained that after analyses and studies it became clear that this would be the best possible option that would solve the queues problem and it is also the most environmentally friendly solution. The intention is to build a second ten-seat cabin line, with a capacity of 3,000 people per hour and a total length of 5.8 km.

 

Source: The Bulgarian National Television