The Commissioner for Human Rights, Marcin Wiącek, asked the Ministry of Infrastructure to consider preparing regulations guaranteeing financial assistance from the state for people who cannot afford to pay for the costs of connecting their property to the existing sewage system on their own. “In their complaints to the Commissioner for Human Rights, property owners claim that the costs of this have been estimated at several dozen thousand zlotys. Their income does not allow them to cover these costs. The financial assistance from the state that they can apply for is symbolic” – we read in the spokesman's statement.
Many Poles cannot afford to connect their property to the sewage system.
Municipal subsidies usually amount to several hundred złoty. Meanwhile, in the case of failure to connect a property to the grid, the law requires a decision to be issued ordering the connection under penalty of enforcement measures. If the property owner fails to connect his house to the grid on time, he may be fined up to PLN 50,000.
It seems that until a mechanism for effective co-financing of the construction of sewage connections is introduced, the legislator should make some modifications to the institution of mandatory initiation of proceedings aimed at issuing a decision ordering the performance of the connection obligation, e.g. by introducing the possibility of discontinuing the proceedings or refraining from issuing an order to connect, when the established factual circumstances lead to the conclusion that the reason for failure to perform the obligation is exclusively the difficult financial situation of the property owner.
– emphasizes the Ombudsman.
Will there be additional financial aid? Ministry of Infrastructure responds to the Ombudsman
The Ministry of Infrastructure, in its response to the Commissioner for Human Rights, admits that poor people who are in a difficult financial situation may have difficulties connecting their property to the sewage system. The ministry recalled the results of an audit conducted by the Supreme Audit Office in 2015. It was shown that in 13 out of 28 audited municipalities, there were cases of failure to connect properties to the existing sanitary sewage system, despite having the technical capabilities, precisely because of the lack of financial resources of their owners.
However, the Ministry of Infrastructure states that it does not intend to change the regulations in this matter. “The Ministry of Infrastructure is not currently working on legislative changes regarding the obligation to connect real estate to the sewage system, however, the regulations in this area are constantly analyzed in order to identify necessary changes in the future,” we read.
The Ministry of Infrastructure is afraid of the European Commission
The Commissioner for Human Rights also appealed in this matter in 2023. At that time, the Ministry of Infrastructure explained that “Poland, as a member of the EU, is obliged to adapt the sewage and municipal sewage treatment system to the requirements of the directive”. The ministry expressed concerns that changing the provisions of the act as a result of implementing the directive “could be associated with the potential initiation of the procedure by the European Commission regarding Poland's infringement of EU law”.