Better days coming to eastern Slavonia?
The town of Vukovar is at this moment the biggest construction site in Slavonia and Baranja, thanks to infrastructure projects worth 800 million kuna, reports Glas Slavonije on April 18, 2017.
In the last two and a half years, as much as 70 percent of smaller town streets have been renovated in Vukovar, which still had war wounds visible, although the war ended more than two decades ago. Head of the local Department of Construction and Environmental Protection Goran Martinović said that the project cost around 25 million kuna.
“During this period, we have renovated 42 streets in the town of Vukovar and suburbs Sotin and Lipovača,” said Martinović, adding that the town authorities had launched the project of construction of a new town market, which is worth 22 million kuna. Its opening is expected within a month. The site of the current market will be turned into a square with a park and a fountain, in an investment worth around 15 million kuna.
“Total investments in municipal infrastructure in the last two and a half years have reached 800 million kuna, if we include major projects led by Croatian Waters public company, which is the construction of the new promenade from the Port of Vukovar to the mouth of the Vuka river, valued at 16 million kuna, as well as the renovation of the Sports Island worth 22 million kuna and the project of reconstruction of communal water infrastructure, which is alone worth 460 million kuna and which is also co-financed from the town budget. Also, we are building a plant for purification of waste water, a sewage system in Sotin, local municipal company has acquired three new municipal vehicles, we have built a recycling yard worth 400,000 kuna, and we have rehabilitated the Petrovačka Dola landfill, which cost us 11 million kuna,” said Martinović.
Other projects are the reconstruction of a bridge over the Vuka river in the pedestrian zone, and the reconstruction of Županijska Street, as well as the construction of a new major roundabout. The authorities are also continuing with the construction of a bike path from the town water tower to Sotin. “We have restored twenty children’s playgrounds, and by the end of the year we will finish additional seven playgrounds,” he said. About 100 family houses and four apartment buildings have been included in the government-financed energy upgrade programme. “There are many projects, and we will continue at the same pace,” said Martinović, adding that they were working on increasing the number of parking spaces in the town.
“For the last two years, Vukovar has been the largest construction site in eastern Croatia, in terms of utility infrastructure. We can be satisfied, because we have improved the standard of living for our citizens in Vukovar, Sotin and Lipovac,” said Deputy Mayor Marijan Pavliček.
Vukovar is also interested in a geothermal water project. Studies have been done which showed that, with the investment of 20 million kuna, it was possible to achieve reduction in heating costs of 30 percent. Football stadium of Vukovar ’91 will also be renovated, and a new sports centre will be built.
