16 million kuna was granted for the work of the city ITU department, and 54.6 million euro for all projects to be utilized by 2020.
Split Deputy Mayor Nino Vela and Ana Jerkunica, the City facilitator for international and EU funds, presented the project “City of Split – ITU Technical Assistance” through which a non-refundable 16 million kuna has been secured to finance the labor costs of the ITU Department of the city. Deputy Mayor Nino Vela repeated that the new mechanism of the European Union, from 2014-2020, is intended for large cities and their functional areas as drivers of urban development, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on May 9, 2019.
The city of Split is also the holder of the urban agglomeration of Split, which also includes the cities and municipalities of Kaštela, Solin, Omis, Sinj, Trogir, Dicmo, Dugi Rat, Dugopolje, Klis, Lećevica, Muć and Podstrana. 54.6 million euro is available to finance development projects.
The project “City of Split – Technical Assistance ITU PT” was presented, for which 16.2 million kuna was approved in grants. This will cover the cost of human resources for the effective implementation and monitoring of the ITU (integrated territorial investment) mechanism, and for strengthening the ITU mediating body needed to implement the mechanism. The ITU office, which operates in the City of Split, has ten staff members, the offices are equipped with new furniture, IT equipment, and promotional materials, and everything is fully funded by this project, Vela specifically emphasized.
“We are an intermediary body that prepares and publishes calls with the Ministry of Regional Development and announces calls to be submitted by our cities and municipalities and eligible users from the area of agglomeration,” explained Ana Jerkunica, the Head of the Department for International and EU Projects and Head of the Department for the Implementation of ITU mechanisms, whose work is funded from this technical assistance project.
They announced the recent call for a coastal cycling route system as part of the agglomeration, where the long-term goal is to connect Trogir and Omiš, and that they would announce other calls regarding the increase in the number of passengers in public transport.
“We have two more strategic projects; one is buying buses for Promet for 18 new buses and ticketing systems. The most important strategic project of the agglomeration is a technological park at Dračevac and transferring the ‘Promet’ garage for which we have secured 20 million euros in grants.”
“The idea and grand scheme is for entrepreneurial support institutions to have access to 23 million kuna in grants to advise entrepreneurs and improve their business infrastructure,” Jerkunica pointed out, adding that there are, for example, two programs of cultural heritage, such as restoring the infrastructure in Diocletian’s Palace, while other cities and municipalities will have a joint plan for open-air summer stages.
Jerkunica announced that next year there would be a call for funding an intelligent transport system, which would solve the problem of traffic lights, crowds on the roads, and traffic jams.
