Private vs. private

Israeli investor Aaron Frenkel has once again rolled out the favorite Croatian story – golf!

Yes or no? For or against? Private or public interest? Sic! Every interest is private. The only reason why opponents of the construction of a golf course, along with all accompanying facilities, on Srđ, a neglected and unkempt hill above Dubrovnik, are getting up on their hind legs is their private interests. Some to prevent the construction of new attractive villas to stop the price per square meter in the City from collapsing, others to gain political points by advocating for the rights of the first group, and others who knows what.

The Golf Park Dubrovnik project was presented in 3D on Thursday, so that everyone could vividly see what it is about ahead of the public discussion on the Environmental Impact Study, which was recently privatized by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Oh, what we will hear during that public discussion! That there is no public interest in this project for the people of Dubrovnik (by that logic, one could question what public interest was satisfied by the construction of the Babin Kuk hotel complex, for example), that construction on Srđ will spoil the view of Dubrovnik (the investor had to promise that the new golf resort would not be visible from the City), and that there will be an ecological disaster due to the enormous amount of water and pesticides needed to maintain the green lawns… In short, all those stories will be repeated, the common denominator being that golf courses are a huge evil.

Due to such a stance towards greening and arranging the neglected hill, the project in which the Israeli investor is ready to invest over a billion euros has been stumbling over all possible so-called administrative barriers for six years, namely about people who lack the courage to do their job honestly for fear of offending someone and losing that job. The fact that the Ministry of Environmental Protection accepted the Environmental Impact Study is a good sign, a signal that perhaps in this country they have started to think differently than that someone’s private interest in investment by definition means that someone else’s private interest, no matter how minor it may be, will be harmed.