Czech association of local residents wants to clean up and revive the Předlice ghetto

"We are a group of people, non-Roma and Roma, who can no longer watch the situation in the Předlice quarter of Ústí nad Labem, where most of us live. We do not want Předlice to continue to be considered the worst neighborhood in the Czech Republic, to persist as a ghetto. We want to put Předlice back on its feet, solve its problems and activate its inhabitants," reads the manifesto of the AMARE Předlice association, which was created at the beginning of this year.

According to association member Lukáš Kmetz, it is necessary to reach out to all residents of Předlice and involve them in this common effort. In addition to collaborating with the city, which the association says has failed as an institution to resolve the situation in Předlice for decades, association members also want to contribute to changing things for the better through their own resources.

"We want to involve as many people as possible, including volunteers, in a cleanup of the public spaces. When you yourself are involved in something, you take the results of that work more seriously. We also want to focus on activities for children, to prepare an environment for them in which they can spend their free time. Children here have been playing in a place that is actually a garbage dump," Kmetz said.

"This is about improving the public space by working with the local community, whom we want to involve in seeking solutions. We want to organize cultural and sports events, clean Předlice up and fix it," Kmetz said.