People who came to Prague from war-torn Ukraine could be accommodated in the former Sandře hostel in the South Town. The mayor of Prague 11, Jiří Dohnal (Pirates), will negotiate with representatives of the Prague City Hall about the possible use of the building for the benefit of war refugees, the council of the eleventh city district decided today. The panel house near the Opatov metro station is being reconstructed and the premises there are now not approved as residential units.
“There is a variant that Prague could borrow Sandře under certain financial and legislative conditions, so it would pay rent for it, and it could use it to accommodate people from Ukraine,” the mayor said.
The interior of the former hostel at Nad Opatovem 2140 has been being repaired since the summer of 2019. According to Dohnal, about 90 interior works are now completed. According to him, the building, which belongs to Prague 11, has, among other things, functional electrical installations, lights and elevators in operation, on the contrary, floor coverings have not yet been laid and kitchen counters have not been installed. However, it should be possible to live in the building under the conditions given by the status of temporary use of the building, the mayor outlined.
According to Dohnal, Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) asked Prague 11 to determine the conditions under which it would be possible to allow accommodation for people from Ukraine in a panel house. In the coming days, representatives of the city district and the Prague City Council should discuss, for example, how long the building would be used for humanitarian accommodation and who would be the operator of the building at the time when it would be used to accommodate Ukrainian refugees.
According to some representatives of the South City, it would be more appropriate to accommodate Ukrainians in hotels and guesthouses in the city district. Opposition representatives Libor Vrkoč (Movement for Prague 11 – HPP11) and Jiří Štyler (HPP11) proposed this, among others. Opposition representative Ivana Hovorková (HPP11) described the Sandře building in its current state as unsuitable for accommodation of refugee families.
The price for the reconstruction of the building is now estimated at CZK 650 million, the mayor informed today. According to the plans of the town hall management, 174 flats should be built in the building in the future, especially for young families, offices, a hall and a restaurant. Modifications to the prefabricated house could be completed by the end of 2023. The plan is to insulate the building and repair the roof. This is because it is now flowing into the construction of the house, as previously represented by Deputy Šárka Zdeňková (HPP11).
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 41,616 people have turned to the Prague Assistance Center for Aid to Ukrainian Refugees. The mayor said today that most of the refugees in Prague are women with children. Of the total number, 41.4 percent of children under the age of 18 were registered, women from the age of 19 to 65 make up 44.6 percent, adult men 10.5 percent and seniors 3.4 percent.
Source: CTK
