Holding Graz, police: – Climate protests led to enormous additional expenses

321 reports, a huge amount of extra work and massive delays: This is how the police and Holding Graz summed up after a week of sticking campaigns by the last generation in Graz. From pouring rain, poster campaigns by opponents and creative ideas to take action against the activists, everything was there.

For the Grande Finale in Graz, another 20 climate stickers moved out to Geidorfplatz half an hour earlier than usual, at 7.30 a.m., to block early traffic – we reported. Line failures very challenging The result was extensive traffic jams on alternative routes but there was no progress for six bus lines either. “The delays were massive all week,” says Holding Graz spokesman Gerald Zaczek-Pichler. “Often detours were not possible, we were only able to shorten some lines.” Numerous adjustments meant a huge amount of extra work: “A challenge!” Even after the resolution – on Friday at 9 a.m. – there were still almost an hour of deviations until everything was drive as usual. Although there were repeated calls throughout the week to ask what was going on, luckily there were no insults or discussions, says Pichler. In general, in the event of such delays, passengers should still ensure that they have a valid ticket, as the reason is not the responsibility of Holding Graz increased in the police staff. The increased presence was noticeable throughout the week, and the officers were immediately on site for the actions every day. “Such situations fundamentally pose a challenge for the police, because they always mean additional and considerable expenditure of resources that have to be managed in parallel to regular operations,” comments the city police commander Thomas Heiland on the extraordinary week. A total of 321 reports were filed that particularly concerned the assembly law, the security police law and the road traffic regulations. The Graz professional fire brigade and the rescue service were also involved in operations. Are the streets of Graz now free? Can the people of Graz now rely on the timetables again after this week and can emergency organizations breathe deeply again? The activists are closer to their goal at least with a conversation with city officials (mayor Elke Kahr, deputy mayor Judith Schwentner and probably SPÖ regional councilor Doris Kampus) at the end of April. But one of the participants said: “Let’s see if we feel like it again on Monday.”
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