István Szentirmai: "Ács wins and does not lose with the investment, which is now being fought against"

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As is known, with a huge investment of around 520 billion forints, China’s Huayou Cobalt is creating 900 new jobs and is building its first European plant in Acs, where it will produce cathodes. Mayor István Szentirmai issued a statement to prevent political incitement.

Péter Szijjártó Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade announced the Huayou Cobalt investment, worth more than one billion dollars. Last year there were 159 of these in the world. Immediately after the announcement, the political uproar in the village began, with some of the independent liberal press attacking Mayor István Szentirmai for denying a week before the announcement that a battery factory was to be built on the outskirts of the small town. In a statement issued on Friday, the mayor reiterated that even if they claim that a battery factory will not be built in Ács, it will be in vain. A cathode production plant is being built, on which he has and will continue to share all available information.

A Communication from says that the plant will have no polluting activities and will produce cathodes on the most advanced production lines in the world. As you know, the cathode plant, unlike the battery plant, produces cathode material, the end product and the process are different. The investment does not require any extra water, the waste water is recycled after proper treatment and no dust is generated as it is collected and treated by a water curtain dust collector.

The mayor regretted that there are those for whom words are not enough, who are not above stirring up emotions and incitement. This includes protesting against anything, anything at all. He added that if a company producing a soft drink or its can had wanted to set up in Ács, it would now be opposed by self-styled ‘experts’, a significant proportion of whom are not from Ács but from Budapest and the surrounding area, because the opposition political forces are pulling the strings.

The mayor’s words are confirmed by the fact that a series of notorious for its serial scandalsBéla Lakatos, a former mayor who has been known for his notoriety and who has served in several political parties but was “shunned” by the people of Acs, was at the head of the protests.

In any case, Mayor István Szentirmai says: with the investment that is now being fought against, Ács wins and does not lose. In fact, he says, the city would be losing if the investor were to withdraw its intention.

We understand that some of the residents of the municipality are planning to support the leader and the investment in some form. They are doing this because of the same former mayor, Béla Lakatos initiated by the previous mayor, Mr Lakatos, but there are also clear voices in the town in favour of the project.

Source : www.kemma.hu