ZAGREB, Feb 5 (Hina) - The Minister of Environmental Protection, Zoning and Construction, Marina Matulovic Dropulic, on Thursday announced new measures in housing construction and efforts to resolve the problem of waste
disposal.
ZAGREB, Feb 5 (Hina) - The Minister of Environmental Protection, Zoning
and Construction, Marina Matulovic Dropulic, on Thursday announced new
measures in housing construction and efforts to resolve the problem of
waste disposal.#L#
Matulovic Dropulic said her ministry had its own programme of housing
construction, but added that the programme initiated by the former
government would be continued.
"It is necessary to make it possible for people to obtain housing
loans for the renovation, construction or purchase of housing under
the same conditions, because this government considers every programme
equally important. You cannot insist on one programme only and ban all
the others," the minister said.
Matulovic Dropulic said it would be made possible also for local
government units to build housing.
She said that during the last three months of its term the former
ministry had signed agreements worth 1.7 billion kuna (approximately
220 million euros) as part of the so-called POS (government-subsidised
housing construction) programme, without issuing building permits or
allocating land for the construction of more than 4,000 flats.
"The former ministry was involved in construction and negotiated all
building design projects and construction works on behalf of the
Agency for Legal Transactions and Real Estate Management, which is
unheard of," the minister said.
Matulovic Dropulic said that a total of 1,025 flats had been built
over two and a half years, rather than "thousands of flats as claimed
by former minister Radimir Cacic".
The minister cited as her priorities environmental protection, waste
management, air and soil protection, cooperation with international
institutions and the drafting of bills and regulations relating to
Croatia's bid to enter the European Union.
Speaking of waste disposal as one of the most pressing problems,
Matulovic Dropulic said that methods of work would be changed and that
more people would be assigned to deal with the matter. She added that
the accumulated problems of waste disposal could be resolved only in
cooperation with experts, non-governmental organisations and the
public.
"No one should labour under the illusion that the problem of waste
disposal can be resolved in a month, because it will take a long time
to finish this job," she said.
Matulovic Dropulic said her ministry would assess a study on the
effect of the Druzba Adria project on the environment that is yet to
be completed, adding that the results of the study would be made
available to the public.
(Hina) vm