A tourist resort on the island of Brač could have a rather unique amenity: a road leading to the local cemetery.
The formal registration in the cadastre of a road passing through the Svpetrvs Hotels resort has caused alarm in Supetar on the island of Brač, given that many of the locals work at the resort. Marion Duzich, the CEO and owner of Svpetrvs Hotels, claims that the opening of the narrow road leading to the local cemetery and which passes through the entire tourist resort, right next to the pool, restaurant and other hotel amenities, will endanger tourism activities, reports Večernji List on May 19, 2017.
Even today, anyone can enter the complex, although the resort has installed a ramp at the entrance. People living in homes near the cemetery regularly pass here, as well as long columns of vehicles coming for funerals, regularly parking on Duzich’s land.
“When I bought Svpetrvs Hotels 17 years ago, all those parcels on which the road is were owned by the hotel. The court will decide if the local mayor can come and take the land which I have bought. We have had a series of meetings with the mayor and council president. I have offered them a replacement road also on my land, which would be on the very edge of the resort and would also lead to the cemetery. The town council members have adopted my proposal, which I would pay for myself, but then they changed their minds,” says Duzich, a returnee from the United States, adding that Mayor Ivana Marković has ignored letters from three tourism ministers who support him.
“You cannot have a resort for family tourism, with 500 children in the resort, and a public road which is so narrow that two vehicles can’t pass each other. Most of our guests are from France, and for them the security and peace are the most important,” explains Duzich, who employs about 500 people. He adds that this is the only road which has been so quickly registered in the cadastre, which he says is an example of corruption and political pressure.
“During the first year, when the mayor came to power, she was very friendly. We gave her campaign donations, and organised a party… We helped her come to power, but our relationship fell apart. She is doing this due to the campaign for the local elections. I hope that, after the elections are over, we will solve this problem,” says Duzich.
Marković says she acted according to the law and started the registration process for all unclassified roads in Supetar. “Nothing has changed. The change in ownership does not mean that we will now open the road and ruin the tourist season. He did not buy a resort on a desolate island, but in a town and next to the cemetery, and this road is being used. I am open for discussions, and during the summer period the traffic will be regulated in agreement with Svpetrvs Hotels,” says Markovic.
“I want to emphasise that funeral processions will not pass through the resort, as some of the media reported recently. Supetar is a town, we have a mortuary at the cemetery. I am 38 years old, and I have never seen a funeral procession in the town itself,” says Marković. If she wins the elections, she might call for a referendum, so that people can decide whether or not they want the substitute road. As for Duzich, she claims he has never been a donor of either her campaign or the party.
