Minister Bačić: Public procurement under way for 1,100 construction projects

(Hina) - Construction Minister Branko Bačić on Tuesday toured several construction sites in Petrinja, noting that a public procurement procedure was under way for around 1,100 new construction projects, which would step up the process of post-earthquake reconstruction.

The minister expressed satisfaction that the post-earthquake reconstruction plan, established in February, "is largely being realised."

In the area of Sisak, around 350 family homes and public buildings are being rebuilt, he said.

He announced that the construction of eight apartment buildings, with some 200 apartments, would be completed in Petrinja by the end of October, as would four buildings in Glina.

Fifty-seven wooden prefabricated homes are also being completed in Petrinja, and in the future they will be used to increase the capacity of the local retirement home.

So far, 157 state-owned flats have been reconstructed in Sisak-Moslavina County, where 36 new apartment buildings are being built, while 20 are being built under the Operational Programme "Competitiveness and Cohesion" in areas of special state concern, which Sisak is not, Bačić said.

"That is why we are treating Sisak as a priority and have launched public procurement for the construction of six apartment buildings in the Caprag neighbourhood so that the post-earthquake reconstruction of apartment buildings in Sisak could be stepped up as well," he said. 

The minister also toured the construction site of a primary school in Petrinja, in the company of Hungarian Ambassador Csaba Demcsák, whose country is financing, together with Croatia, the reconstruction project, worth more than €21 million, of which the Croatian government has provided €4 million.

Bačić expressed hope the school would be completed by the end of the year. It will have two gyms and 26 classrooms.

He then toured the construction site of the city's secondary vocational school, in the company of representatives of the World Bank, which has provided a loan for its reconstruction.

Bačić noted that 27 houses in Petrinja had been renovated in cooperation with the Caritas charity.

A total of 2,100 properties have been reconstructed in the area of Petrinja, and around 50 houses have been built anew in Sisak-Moslavina County. Work on around 180 replacement homes is nearing completion, and they are expected to be finished in two to three months, the minister said.

HINA/MPGI

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