Investigation committee on flood disaster decided – SWR Aktuell

A corresponding request from the CDU parliamentary group also approved the parliamentary groups of AfD and Free Voters in Mainz on Wednesday. For the appointment, the 31 votes of the CDU parliamentary group would have been enough. The AfD parliamentary group joined the application after its own application had failed. The traffic light coalition made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP abstained.

The committee should consist of eleven members. The state parliament unanimously elected the SPD member Martin Haller as chairman and the CDU parliamentarian Marcus Klein as deputy.

The CDU parliamentary group made it clear at the meeting that it considers a committee of inquiry to be necessary in addition to the inquiry commission on the flood, which had already been set up at the suggestion of the government parliamentary groups. “We ask ourselves: When did the premonition and the prognoses become the certainty that a life-threatening flood was devastating the Ahr Valley?” Said Vice-parliamentary group leader Gordon Schnieder.

Despite criticism, the SPD wants to press ahead with the committee’s work

Criticism of the application came from the traffic light coalition. In the opinion of SPD parliamentary group leader Sabine Bätzing-Lichtenthäler, the application had “technical deficiencies”. Despite the SPD’s abstention, however, their parliamentary group would do everything possible to advance the work of the committee. “We’ll make the pace,” said Bätzing-Lichtenthäler.

The state parliament had already decided to set up the study commission at the end of August. This should start work in October. A committee of inquiry is considered to be the opposition’s sharpest sword. Such a body can summon witnesses and request access to the files.

Victims should get help quickly

In the evening, the state parliament wanted to discuss the establishment of a special fund for reconstruction aid and changes to the regulations to facilitate reconstruction. Accordingly, the state is setting up a special fund from the billions it receives from the federal government. Around 30 billion euros will be provided in construction aid for the next few years, primarily for North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.

Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD) had estimated the damage in the north of the country at around 15 billion euros. In order for the injured party to get the funding quickly, safely and unbureaucratically, Rhineland-Palatinate relies on electronic applications – from submission to payment, says Dreyer. She also promised hardship regulations for companies that get into trouble because of the compensation requirements.

Reconstruction should be accelerated and facilitated

A second law is intended to facilitate and accelerate reconstruction. “We want to create the legal framework that enables rapid reconstruction and remove bureaucratic hurdles that stand in the way of new buildings,” said FDP parliamentary group leader Philipp Fernis.

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The so-called Reconstruction Facilitation Act also provides for an expense allowance for local honorary offices. Many municipal mayors are on duty around the clock, said the SPD parliamentary group leader, Sabine Bätzing-Lichtenthäler.

Rhineland-Palatinate

The clean-up work after the flood disaster in mid-July is making progress. But there is still a long way to go before normality. In the meantime, political reappraisal is also under way. Here is the current situation:
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