Goms VS Retired banker prevents urgently needed medical center
Because a 70-year-old former banker is objecting to a medical center because of his vacation apartment in Münster VS, basic medical care in the municipality of Goms is at stake.
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- A pensioner is preventing the construction of a medical center in Münster VS through numerous objections.
- This is important for the Goms region, where there are only two GPs left, both of whom are over 70 years old.
- The 70-year-old ex-banker has a vacation apartment 100 meters away from the planned building.
- The mayor complains that the reasons for the objections are flimsy. A purchase of the apartment by the municipality has so far failed due to the pensioner's excessive demands.
Although there are several objections to the construction of a medical center in Münster VS, they all come from one and the same person. The ex-banker doesn't even live in the municipality of Goms, but in the canton of Solothurn. But the 70-year-old has been fighting the project "since the very beginning", writes Blick.
The construction is urgently needed, it continues: there are only two GPs in the region, both of whom are also over 70 years old. On the one hand, the modern center should attract new young doctors. In addition, the medical services are also to be located there and a project for age-appropriate living is to be implemented.
"The motives are flimsy"
The fact that no progress is being made is really upsetting for the mayor of Goms: "It's unbelievable that one man can prevent a project that is so important for the general public," complains Gerhard Kiechler in Blick - even if he must of course respect the democratic processes.
According to Kiechler, the pensioner is concerned about the protected townscape of Münster, which will not be affected at all. His vacation apartment is 100 meters away from the planned site, but there is also a supermarket, a school and a fire station nearby.
The pensioner also complains that the construction could increase traffic noise. Kiechler counters that the cantonal road is already very busy because it leads to the Furka, Grimsel and Nufenen passes. "How much additional noise can there be?" he asks and replies: "The motives are flimsy."
The offer to set up a 30 km/h zone was just as unsuccessful as an offer to buy the vacation apartment. However, the price did not appeal to the ex-banker: according to Blick, he is said to be demanding almost 500,000 francs from the municipality for the 3.5-room apartment, which is higher than the cost of apartments elsewhere in the region.