The Ministry of Land and Maritime Affairs said it will sue the provincial governments of South Gyeongsang and South Chungcheong for damages should they refuse to carry out the river development work they were commissioned with.
Kim Hee-kuk, chief of the ministry’s headquarters for the four-rivers development project, said civil lawsuits will be filed against the two provincial administrations if they boycott the assigned construction work without just cause.
Newly-elected governors from opposition parties Kim Doo-kwan of South Gyeongsang and Ahn Hee-jung of South Chungcheong have expressed doubts over the river development plan, but did not officially say their provinces would boycott it.
The ministry sent out official documents to the two governors asking whether they plan to proceed with the riverside development or whether they would like to return the business rights to the central government.
The river development work is making slow progress in some lots due to opposition from local government leaders, but none has officially notified the ministry that they would defer or stop the construction.
Kim said the ministry will wait for replies from the two provinces until Friday and go ahead with the construction work through the ministry’s local branches if they hold it off.
Kim also said the government will stick to its construction schedule, denying speculation that it may be delayed a little to buy more time to build a wider consensus.
Of the 170 construction segments along the nation’s four main rivers -- the Han, the Nakdong, the Geum and the Youngsan -- 54, or 32 percent, are contracted out to local administrations. The Land Ministry dredges the river bottom and builds reservoirs, while the local governments build riverside roads for bicycles and ecological parks.
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