activities of GARDE

1,6 billion crowns in investment incentives for illegal production of color picture tubes in the lg philips displays factory

Within the GARDE program, we focused in 2003 on the largest foreign "greenfield" investment in the Czech Republic at the turn of the millennium: the construction of a wide-screen television plant by LG. Philips Displays in Hranice. This case became nationally famous due to local homeowner Markéta Regecová, whose case, which involved the highest state officials, including then-premier Miloš Zeman almost perfectly jibed with the large set of doubts and problems that exist regarding the plant´s construction and operation.

The factory, a recipient of a mighty dose of investment support in an amount exceeding 1.6 billion crowns, and which has been producing screen 'like on an assembly line' for over two years already, has not even received its post-construction certificate, and thus has remained in test operation. On the basis of a legal analysis, we determined that Philips has been manufacturing screens via test operation since September of 2001, without having an approved safety program for prevention of serious accidents, or liability insurance for any damages that could result from a serious accident.

A safety program is essential in order to commence a factory´s operation, because of its vital contents: a thorough evaluation of the risks involved in a serious accident and its possible consequences for the factory´s surroundings. This is especially true here: the Philips plant works en masse with dangerous chemical substances. We turned to the regional authority in Olomouc with filings calling for the commencement of proceedings that would forbid operation of the Philips plant and apply sanctions for the lack of insurance. Their aim is to force this Korean-Dutch concern to begin respecting the Czech code of law.

The regional authority´s response to this over two-year-long infringing of the law on prevention of serious accidents was entirely buck passing: yes, Philips broke the law, but we will not fine them for it. On the basis of the media´s attention to the entire case and after yet another dangerous-substances leak from the plant into the Bečva River, the Czech Environmental Inspectorate ran a week-long inspection of the Philips plant, resulting in the launching of fining proceedings by the Water and Air Protection and Waste department. Thanks to other EPS legal filings, Philips then began publicizing information on the plant´s effect on the environment on the Web. Because the entire case is quite serious, and we have also found other problems with the plant, we will continue tending to this case in the year to come.