Bandić: Apartments instead of a shopping center near Kraš

Zagreb’s mayor Milan Bandić stated at a press conference following the meeting of the City Council that the City will build the Zagreb model of apartment construction on its plot east of Kraš towards Dubrava, a green area of nearly ten hectares bordered by Maksimirska, Mandlova, and Branimirova, rather than Krašograd or a shopping center.

Bandić said that Kraš is being approached to build what they want on their plot, and their plan is to relocate the production facilities and construct apartments. When asked by journalists about the land exchange in Sesvetski Kraljevac for land in Maksimir, Bandić replied that the priorities in Sesvetski Kraljevac are the construction of a kindergarten and a school, and that this will be done. However, he is not sure whether the Office for Property and Legal Affairs will exchange that parcel with Maksimir or another location in accordance with regulations and laws. “As I receive information, I am not sure it will be Maksimir, but let’s leave that to the course of time, as I have information that the registration has stalled,” said Bandić.

According to media reports, the companies “Mala ulaganja” and “Karantena” will most likely return the land in Maksimir to Zagreb, which they received by transferring land in Sesvetski Kraljevac to the city, assessing that it will most likely not be able to be registered due to over 170 encumbrances on the land. They intended to build a shopping center at that location. The head of the City Office for Property and Legal Affairs, Ninoslava Zeković, stated that the City has already registered the land in Sesvetski Kraljevac, so the companies will either be paid for the parcel or offered another property in the city. At today’s meeting, the City Council accepted a donation of project documentation worth a total of 2.9 million kuna from the company DOHEL for an elementary school with a sports hall and swimming pool, a kindergarten, as well as public areas and communal infrastructure in the residential neighborhood IVER, in accordance with the DPU “Farme Sesvetski Kraljevac”.

The mayor stated that a court expert will provide information tomorrow regarding the causes of water pollution, and the city’s Public Health Institute will propose remediation measures, and that he cannot comment on newspaper reports that the company Zagrebgradnja and Vodoopskrba are responsible for the pollution of water with mineral oils in Vrbanima III before that. In response to a journalist’s claim that this case has shaken city leaders and the City Council, Bandić replied that “he is not shaken, and God forbid that this affair would shake him because he is a responsible mayor and this is a responsible city administration.” He emphasized that the water in all seven water supply wells and 34 wells is safe for drinking and supplied to every hydrant in the city.

The City Council today, among other things, accepted the decision to erect a monument to Stjepan Radić and forwarded it to the City Assembly for adoption. Until June 3, 2010, it extended the use of an apartment for official needs to the Croatian National Theatre, six citizens in an exceptionally difficult social and health situation received apartments for rent, and seven dramatic artists, top athletes, as well as a museum conservator and the principal dancer of the Croatian National Theatre had their apartment leases extended for three years. (H)