ZAGREB, August 28, 2020 – Parliamentary deputies of the We Can! political platform have warned that the final bill on the post-earthquke reconstruction of Zagreb and its environs leaves a lot to be elaborated and that they will continue insisting on the establishment of an institute for reconstruction rather than a fund.
MP Tomislav Tomasevic said that his platform would submit a larger number of amendments to improve the bill.
He said the platform was satisfied with the social criteria and financial framework of the bill but was not happy with the institutional framework, which, he said, had stayed more or less the same in relation to the first version of the bill.
“The government still insists on a fund for the reconstruction of Zagreb, Krapina-Zagorje and Zagreb counties instead of an institute for the reconstruction of Zagreb and its environs, which is what we have requested,” said Tomasevic.
The We Can! platform wants the institute to be a coordinating body rather than “a kind of supporting administrative-financial body, which is what the fund will be under the bill.”
Tomasevic also pointed to the importance of having a single institution in charge of the reconstruction process to prevent conflict of jurisdiction.
MP Sandra Bencic said that the government had not fully accepted their amendment seeking the establishment of an independent body in charge of overseeing how funds for reconstruction are spent.
She expressed concern about how citizens who have already started repair works on their properties will be financially assisted because the bill does not specify the amount of aid they are entitled to.
Bencic also called for regulating the issue of the market price of reconstruction work, saying that the price of some types of repair work was up to 400% higher than the ususual price.
The bill does not define precisely the issue of substitute housing, she noted.
MP Damir Bakic warned that the bill failed to mention that reconstruction work on public-purpose buildings would be entirely financed by their owners, i.e. founders.
It would be unfair and contrary to the intention of the law for reconstruction work on public-purpose buildings that are privately owned to be financed exclusively by their owners, he said.
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