.png)
Zagreb - The parliamentary physical planning committee on Wednesday endorsed reports on the effects of the Reconstruction Act, which say progress has been made in the adoption of decisions, while the opposition remarked they contained too many numbers and too few projects realised.
Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets Minister Ivan Paladina said that by 30 November his ministry had received 20,362 applications for 18,670 locations and adopted 7,729 related decisions, 2,000 more since May.
He said 172 reconstruction decisions were adopted in June and 485 in November, and that over the past six months the ministry improved regulations to deal with disruptions relating to construction material and to ensure financial aid for the protection and repair of buildings damaged in the two 2020 earthquakes.
Speaking of the Solidarity Fund, Paladina said applications had been filed refunds totalling HRK 2.2 billion.
Speaking of the results in the last six months, the minister said how many buildings had been reconstructed and how many were undergoing reconstructikon.
Zvane Brumnić of the Social Democrats said the reports contained lots of information and numbers but did not show what had been done and when citizens affected by the earthquakes could expect their problems to be solved.
Urša Raukar Gamulin of We Can! said the state had failed because two and a half years after the Zagreb earthquake and two after the one in the Banovina region, the talk was mostly about red tape and minimally about the work done.
She said the reports showed the distance between theory and practice, and that in the last six months progress was visible only in red tape. However, she commended the accelerated decision making.
Speaking to the press after the committee session, Paladina said that stimulating structural reconstruction through financial aid was a good model, and that every beneficiary who found a contractor and architect would promptly receive an advance.