Exaggerated Student Statements

The cafeteria at Borongaj is not operational due to delays in equipment from Italy, the heating issue has been resolved, and students will have to enter through the gate from Savudrijska Street, stated the leaders of the University of Zagreb.

The leaders of the University of Zagreb and the Student Center responded in an official statement that the newspaper headlines regarding the unpreparedness of the Borongaj Scientific-Educational Campus for receiving students are unfounded. They also forwarded the document to the Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports, which requested an urgent statement regarding the “Borongaj” case yesterday.
The statement mentions that the students’ claims about freezing on Monday were exaggerated “considering that the outside temperature was approximately 10 degrees Celsius, while the temperature inside the buildings was between 16 and 18 degrees.

It is also noted that on Monday, the “reduced heating capacities” occurred due to the presence of air in the hot water network, which was resolved after venting the network during the morning, and the achieved heating temperature was around 20 degrees. “The presence of air in the pipe network is a standard occurrence for old and branched systems like Borongaj and represents an objective circumstance for users with a normal tolerance threshold, especially when it is resolved so quickly,” the statement reads.

Regarding the official opening of the restaurant, the statement did not deny the fact that it is still not operational, but it outlines the reasons why the Student Center has not yet started full operations of the new cafeteria. According to the statement, the Student Center is still waiting for the minimum technical conditions for the official opening of the student restaurant since the campus has not been cadastrally transferred, the documentation requested by the Zagreb Office for Economy is incomplete, and the restaurant equipment from Italy and Germany is delayed and will only be delivered on October 19. Additionally, the handover of the military cafeteria to the SC was completed on Friday, October 12. The only shortcoming of the Student Center mentioned is that the student restaurant was not opened on Monday but on Tuesday, October 16.

In response to student complaints about “poor” traffic connectivity, representatives of the University of Zagreb stated that it is “adequate for this phase of using the Borongaj campus” and that for the needs of the start of the academic year 2006/07, traffic connectivity was precisely developed with ZET using tram capacities on Vukovarska Street, buses on Borongajska Road, and the capacity and frequency of the new circular line that is supposed to connect trams, buses, and university facilities within the campus.

In response to remarks that the military is still stationed at the entrance to the campus at Borongaj, Rector Aleksa Bjeliš, Vice-Rector for Development and Spatial Planning Bojan Baletić, Vice-Rector for Business Tonko Ćurko, and Director of the Student Center Niko Vidović stated in the announcement that according to the agreement between the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports, the complete evacuation of the Croatian Army from the Borongaj barracks should be completed by the end of 2007, and during the period until the complete evacuation of the barracks, “the army will keep the western gate on Borongajska Road, while the Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports will take over the entrance from Savudrijska Street and hand it over to the SC for management.” This fact, it is stated in the announcement, has been communicated to the faculty administrations to inform employees and students. The announcement also indicates that students and employees will still have to use the “military” entrance because “for traffic-technical reasons” the newly introduced bus line passes through there. (Marija Čekada)