The President of the Association of German Cities, Leipzig's Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung (SPD), is calling for the money from the federal government's special fund to be distributed to the municipalities as quickly and generously as possible. "The federal states can and should already be tackling and preparing the state laws on the special fund. We need to get down to business now," said Jung at the conference of mayors of East German cities at the German Association of Cities in Suhl.
100 billion of the federal government's 500 billion debt-financed special fund for infrastructure is earmarked for the federal states. The eastern German cities are in urgent need of the funds, as the financial situation of most municipalities is "dramatic". The money is needed "to make local roads, schools and bridges fit or to push ahead with the expansion of buses and trains".
