Melissa Elena Antonella
Live from the Border post/crossing, Furth / Main Road L23
Melissa Elena Antonella: Good morning OTW we're here at the place of tension. As you may have already noticed from the background, I am at the border. To be precise, in Furth, main road L23. Head of Inc.©frastructure Lothar Rumpcal will now describe the situation in more detail.
Lothar Rumpcal: Well, as you can see, the L23 is temporarily closed. It is the busiest main road between Cervia and OTW. This is where goods and passenger traffic runs. Or rather, most of the traffic was going on until a few hours ago. Construction work started here yesterday. It will be a few weeks before the construction site is completed and subsequently abandoned. The closure a few hours ago caused a traffic jam about 1 kilometer long on both sides. Because the emergency lane principle applies on this three-lane road, we were able to divert the traffic jam without any problems. The traffic jam was cleared within about half an hour.
Melissa Elena Antonella: Why the Border Patrol divert vehicles? Many are surprised they can't enter and leave Cervia?
Lothar Rumpcal: As I already explained, listen! Due to modernization of the infrastructure here in Furth. This covers several areas. Road renovation, fiber optic cables and network expansion and the construction of a protective structure to prevent wild animals from crossing the road. Last year a total of 8 serious traffic accidents occurred in the immediate vicinity, with 5 people seriously injured and one dead. A barrier is now planned to stop wild boar, deer and rodents from continuing to walk along the busy L23 in the future, thereby repeatedly causing serious accidents.
Melissa Elena Antonella: And just because they're asphalting a few potholes, they have to close the whole road?
Lothar Rumpcal: Several factors playing roles here. This road is in a disastrous state. Construction work is long overdue. In addition, maintenance work and repairs were last carried out 10 years ago. Look at that crack over there, it's huge. Or the pothole over there. If you drive over it at 100 on the speedometer, I guarantee you at least a hole in the tank, broken axles, loose tires and smashed carosserie parts.
Melissa Elena Antonella: Said who?
Lothar Rumpcal: The Infrastructure Secretary and the insurance industry confirm this. The Ministry of the Interior is only giving the necessary order to insure this region according to the circumstances. The fully comprehensive insurance companies are putting pressure on the Secretariat because the amount of damage to be paid has been increasing for years. Due to the poor quality of the roads in some places, Carosserie and engine damage are becoming more and more. Smoothing and asphalting the roads does lead to traffic jams and diversions for now, but in the long run it is a nessesery investment.
Melissa Elena Antonella: You mentioned that a fence is being installed to prevent wild animals from crossing the L23. Is it really that important if a rabbit or deer gets under the wheels once every few weeks? Is it justified to have a kilometer-long fence built just for that purpose, which will also cost huge amounts of taxpayers' money?
Lothar Rumpcal: Why don't you ask this question Claudia Bathon?
Melissa Elena Antonella: Who is that?
Lothar Rumpcal: Claudia Bathon is the widow of Rubino Bathon. Rubino drove off the road here a few months ago when he was trying to avoid a deer. His car rolled over several times and broke all of his bones. His death occurred, confirmed by the emergency services, 10 minutes after the accident. He died in the arms of his work colleagues because he was a paramedic himself. Rubino was 27 years old, leaves behind 2 children and a... Claudia.
Melissa Elena Antonella: OK, stop, some of our viewers are not of legal age. I think you could have spared us some of the details.
Lothar Rumpcal: I'm not here to sugarcoat things, it's just one of many heartbreaking fates. That's why a fence simply has to be put up. To prevent such situations in the future.
Melissa Elena Antonella: The fence will mark a border with Cervia. Given the already tense situation, do you want to take the risk of further deteriorating relations? Why don't you allow criticism of this controversial issue?
Lothar Rumpcal: Our Inc.©frastructure Secretariat consists exclusively of technical experts who work out the sources of danger in detail. I rely on the fact that the projects that are given have a specific reason why they must be implemented. There is obviously a need for them and I do not doubt the competence of my employees at the Infrastructure Secretariat, when they come to the conclusion that's we need improvements here.
Melissa Elena Antonella: I know this question probably sounds naive, but wouldn't it be possible to just kill the animals instead?
Lothar Rumpcal: How do you want to kill animals that come from the adjacent forest and nature reserve that is not on your territory? That is one of the problems we facing. These animals mostly come from Cervia's adjacent forest. Now many forest dwellers move to OTW's meadows and wetlands in the morning because there are more wild herbs and other food sources there. Please don't ask me why these animals do that, I'm not a expert at it. I was just told that it is because the forest dwellers seek the protection of the forest at night and prefer the open field during the day. Sounds logical, doesn't it? So no, you can't kill all of these animals because they come from the forest that doesn't belong to OTW, but to Cervia. And even if we shoot everything that moves towards the border, that would mean too much risk of hitting targets that you might regret having aimed, if you know what I mean. Yet another problem is the balance of fauna and flora. Our meadows are suffering from the game and it is causing an imbalance in OTW's biodiversity. So if we kill the animals, it could have massive consequences for the forest. The forest also needs these animals to stay healthy. In other words, if Bambi doesn't come home in the evening, it will cause enormous damage to the entire environment in the long term.
Melissa Elena Antonella: otwmedia received a lot of letters and mails from critical voices who claim that this boundary is being drawn because Government want to distance themselves from Cervia and provoke the situation. After all, viewers have seen what was communicated in the public media. From a political perspective, was is a bad decision?
Lothar Rumpcal: First of all, you can think what you want about the fence, at the end of the day it doesn't harm anyone. It will be covered in barbed wire to prevent animals from damaging it. But basically it is harmless because it cannot be used as a weapon. This fence is there to save lives and nothing else.
And if you want to know whether this is politically motivated or for other reasons, then you have to ask a politician and not me. I am responsible for implementing this project.
Melissa Elena Antonella: Thanks for the interview Mr Rumpcal. And we go back to studio cause I'm freezing, where Andi will tell you the weather for the next days so stay tuned, we back after a short commercial.
Camera Guy : 3,2, And we're off, was a good one...
Melissa Elena Antonella : How do I look
Camera Guy : Still good babe, what's wrong
Melissa Elena Antonella :That guy was so fucking boring I can't believe people are watching this shit, I'm asking because I nearly felt asleep while listening to him, I hope no body recognized, haha fuck it. Come on we go