Culture Minister slams Zagreb Mayor for taking credit for earthquake reconstruction

At 6:24 AM CET on the morning of March 22nd 2020, a 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit Zagreb, with an epicenter 7 kilometers north of the city center. The earthquake was followed by numerous aftershocks, the strongest of which registered a magnitude of 5.0. It was the strongest earthquake in Zagreb since the 1880 earthquake and caused substantial damage in the historical city center. More than 1 900 buildings were reported to have been damaged to the point of becoming uninhabitable. The earthquake claimed one life and left another 27 injured.

On Saturday, the 5th anniversary of the Zagreb earthquake, Mayor Tomislav Tomašević said that he was satisfied that more than ninety percent of the earthquake reconstruction projects have been completed. He also said that what remained were the most complex projects, dealing with the reconstruction of protected cultural landmarks, such as the Museum of Arts and Crafts, and projects for which the city was unable to draw on European funds and would have to fund entirely out of its own budget, such as the Dom Sportova sports arena.

However, Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek took issue with this, noting on social media that Mayor Tomašević was spreading lies about the reconstruction process. The minister noted that the majority of the earthquake reconstruction effort, both financially and organizationally, was handled by the Government. She added that the only polite thing to do would be to thank the government for taking responsibility for the reconstruction of the city's public buildings that were supposed to be renovated by the city.

She went on to note that six months before the deadline for making use of the Solidarity Fund money expired, the mayor's office had managed to make use of only 24 percent of the funds available to the city, and that as a result the Ministry was forced to reduce contracts, which according to Obuljen Koržinek would explain how the mayor arrived at his ninety percent completion rate. The minister went on to provide an example, noting that more than fifteen million euros have been secured for the Christ the King Church complex in Mirogoj Cemetery and the arcades, and that the Tomašević administration have only managed to sign contracts for a paltry four hundred thousand euros, and the renovation has not even started.

Source: HRT