Plenković visits Petrinja ahead of fifth anniversary of earthquake

The fifth anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Sisak-Moslavina County is approaching. To date, a significant number of family houses and apartment buildings have been built, and hundreds of construction sites have been opened. 1.77 billion euros have been invested in reconstruction so far.

Ahead of the fifth anniversary, Sisak, Petrinja and Glina were visited by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and ministers.

In Sisak, he visited the construction site of a building with 144 apartments and attended the ceremonial opening of the Knowledge and Planetarium Center - Gradska Munjara Sisak.

Prime Minister Plenković pointed out that 1.77 billion euros have been spent on the reconstruction of Sisak-Moslavina County so far.

“As many as 10,042 reconstruction procedures have been completed, 9,299 family houses and 329 apartment buildings have been reconstructed, a total of almost 15,000 housing units,” said Plenković.

“So far, 449 replacement family houses have been built, 69 have been purchased, almost 90 million euros in financial assistance have been paid out, and at the same time, from the process here in Sisak-Moslavina County, I would like to especially highlight the construction of as many as 59 multi-apartment buildings with a total of 1,024 residential units. Of these 59, 45 have been completed so far, 12 are in progress and two more will be built, which is essentially the creation of almost completely new neighborhoods where there are more of them, and in some parts of the county we have also built these buildings, sometimes one, sometimes two, but of course most of them are in Sisak and Petrinja, which is logical,” added the Prime Minister.

The historic building of Munjare, where a power plant was opened in 1907, thanks to which Sisak received electricity before Zagreb, was used for electricity production until 1947. After decades of neglect, this valuable monument of industrial heritage has been thoroughly reconstructed and renovated and converted into a Knowledge Center and Planetarium, which will be part of the educational system and a new attraction in Sisak's tourist offer.

The reconstruction of the damaged area has also been used for the revitalization of Sisak-Moslavina County. Plenković said that the plan is to completely rebuild all family houses by 2027, and for the entire process to be completed by 2030, and he said that the Government will continue to be a reliable partner in this process.

The construction site engineer for the Caprag project, Jure Bilić, said that the reconstruction involves 11,500 square meters.

“First, we demolished all the buildings, completely, to the ground, rebuilt them in the same volume, only with new techniques, with reinforced concrete walls, reinforced concrete slabs, and now the building is safe for another earthquake,” he said.

The mayor of Sisak, Domagoj Orlić, said that they are satisfied with the current pace of reconstruction.

“First of all, and we witnessed this today, public buildings under the jurisdiction of the state, as well as Sisak-Moslavina County, and the city of Sisak, are practically either completed or projects have been started and will be completed in a very short period of time,” he said.

Source: HRT