Petrinja Mayor Says Opposition's Move Shameful
ZAGREB, 30 January, 2021 - Petrinja Mayor Darinko Dumbović has said that the Opposition's quorum-breaking on Friday, which resulted in the parliament not adopting the amended law on post-earthquake reconstruction, is "the biggest disgrace ever", noting that earthquake victims want solutions and not divisions.
"This is the biggest disgrace, a disgrace for the Opposition, the We Can!, the SDP and others, it's a disaster, what kind of message is that to people in Banovina," Dumbović said on Saturday while touring locations in Petrinja where work was being launched to demolish buildings damaged beyond repair in a 6.2 earthquake that hit Sisak-Moslavina County on 29 December.
He called on the Opposition to set this right and "vote in unanimously, as soon as tomorrow, the post-earthquake reconstruction law."
"Are they aware of what people think of them, I have been listening to what people on the ground say, they should come here and apologise, we do not need divisions, there must be no blackmail, people are seeking solutions here," Dumbović said.
PM Says Opposition Has Turned Its Back on Earthquake Victims
AGREB, 30 January, 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Saturday that by breaking the quorum in the parliament on Friday, which was why amendments to the law on post-earthquake reconstruction were not voted in, the Opposition had "impudently turned its back" on earthquake victims in the Banovina region.
"Not only did they not enable the adoption of the law on post-earthquake reconstruction, they also prevented the declaration of the Exclusive Economic Zone in the Adriatic and the adoption of the National Development Strategy, which reveals an unbelievable degree of political destructiveness and lack of political culture," the PM said after a meeting of the task force dealing with the aftermath of the 29 December earthquake in Sisak-Moslavina County, held in Petrinja.
Noting that his HDZ party would never do such a thing, Plenković stressed that amending the Act on the Post-Earthquake Reconstruction of the City of Zagreb and Zagreb and Krapina-Zagorje Counties to make it apply also to Sisak-Moslavina County would simplify procedures and enable the state to launch reconstruction mechanisms.
"The Opposition's quorum-breaking is an immoral act in the context of the fact that an MP of the ruling majority is in hospital," Plenković said in reference to HDZ MP Miroslav Tuđman, who has been hospitalised for COVID-19 and whose absence the HDZ believes the Opposition took advantage of.
Burden of responsibility lies with Opposition
Plenković went on to say that the Opposition's motion regarding the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) was incomplete, demagogical and populist, describing the Bridge party, which tabled it, as destructive populists and proponents of anti-European and anti-minority policies.
Asked when the new law on post-earthquake reconstruction would be adopted, he referred reporters to opposition leaders, telling them "to ask Mr Grbin, Mr Petrov and Mr Škoro if they plan to help Banovina."
He repeated that the parliamentary majority was strong and stable regardless of the fact that its members did not see eye to eye on some topics.
The HGK needs to be reformed but you cannot just bring down an institution that has existed for more than 160 years, he said.
Amendments to the Act on the Post-Earthquake Reconstruction of the City of Zagreb and Zagreb and Krapina-Zagorje Counties were among the motions that were to have been put to the vote in parliament on Friday.
After Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković moved from the agenda Bridge's motion to abolish the mandatory membership fee in the HGK, the Opposition walked out of the parliament, breaking the quorum. Since the HDZ-led majority was one vote short of the 76 MPs necessary to take a vote, the vote on amendments to the post-earthquake reconstruction law was postponed as well.
The Opposition has dismissed the accusations from the ruling HDZ party, accusing the ruling majority of tyranny and disregard for earthquake victims, with Social Democrat leader Peđa Grbin describing the HDZ's accusations against the Opposition with regard to HDZ MP Tuđman as shameless.
Hospitality sector, gym owners should show little more patience
Plenković today also called on cafe and restaurant owners, who have announced protests against the national COVID-19 response team's decision to keep current restrictions in force and only slightly relax some, to show a little more patience, stressing that nobody wanted to restrict business activity but that a large-scale relaxation of the restrictions would not be wise at the moment.
The restrictions will be reviewed on February 15 and if the situation then is much better than it is now and if we find room for additional relaxation, we will do it, he said.
Plenković was in Petrinja to attend the start of work on demolishing buildings that have been found unfit for use following the 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Sisak-Moslavina County last month.
He said that more than 1,025 mobile housing units had been installed in the area and that work would also be stepped up on completing the motorway section running from Lekenik to Sisak for the sake of future revitalisation and economic activity in the region of Banovina.
Daruvar Mountaineering Association Croatia's Largest
January 30, 2021 – Daruvar Mountaineering Association 'Petrov vrh' is Croatia's largest - it counts every 25th resident of the town as a member
Sitting quite close to the only significant stretch of mountain in Slavonia, you could have guessed some Davuvar residents would be keen on wandering into their nearby Nature Park and its peaks. But, you would surely never have known that Daruvar Mountaineering Association is Croatia's largest. It's so big, it counts every 25th resident of the town as a member.
Daruvar itself has some 10, 000 inhabitants. The Daruvar Mountaineering Association 'Petrov vrh' has 400 members, making it not only the largest sports association in the city but the largest mountaineering association in Croatia. Not so long ago, the society did not rank so highly.
Papuk Nature Park, 'home turf' for Daruvar Mountaineering Association Petrov vrh © Papuk Nature Park
In 2017, Daruvar Mountaineering Association 'Petrov vrh' had only about fifty members. Its rapid growth can be attributed to a willful pursuit of younger town residents, a change in their programme and the embrace of modern communication methods. The Daruvar Mountaineering Association built its own website, set up a Facebook page and began attracting younger members. Its communication with town residents had previously involved only printed pieces of news pinned to a public bulletin board in Daruvar.
Their organised group excursions grew in ambition - trips in recent years have taken Daruvar Mountaineering Association members to climbs across Croatia, Slovenia and Italy, with some of the peaks tackled being over 3000 metres. But, it wasn't solely in the difficulty of the climb and the distances travelled in which they increased their ambition. The excursions were programmed specifically with families in mind and thought put into entertaining young members on each trip. It worked. Over 100 members of the Daruvar Mountaineering Association 'Petrov vrh' are underage climbers.
Although last year the Daruvar Mountaineering Association was unable to make its planned trips to Hungary and Montenegro because of travel restrictions, the sporadic closure of cafes and bars in Daruvar helped membership increase further, according to local news in moj.portal. Who knows how many this year will be taking to the hills with Petrov vrh.
Quake Upset 87% of Citizens, Majority Unhappy With State's Response
ZAGREB, 30 January, 2021 - The magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck Sisak-Moslavina County on 29 December deeply upset Croatian citizens, with more than half saying in a survey they were dissatisfied with the state's engagement and organisation of aid in the affected area, the Hendal market research agency said this week.
The survey was conducted in mid-January and covered 500 respondents, with 87% saying the quake upset or deeply upset them.
About 40% of respondents helped those affected by donating money, 47% by donating goods and necessities, and 8% volunteered on the ground.
Of those who donated money, 16.2% did so directly to those affected, 8.9% donated to the Red Cross, 4.6% to Caritas, 3.3% paid into the government's official account, and 12.6% donated to other organisations and persons.
Fifty-two percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the state's engagement and organisation of aid in the affected area, 28% were neutral, and only 20% were satisfied.
Fifty-two percent of respondents also said the earthquake had no impact at all on their concern about COVID-19, while 28% said they were more concerned.
First Container Homes to be Set up at Petrinja Container Settlement on Wednesday
ZAGREB, 30 January, 2021 - A spokesman for the task force dealing with the aftermath of the 29 December earthquake in Sisak-Moslavina County has said that the first housing containers that will constitute a temporary settlement for earthquake victims in that county will be set up in Petrinja on Wednesday.
In an interview with Croatian Radio on Saturday, spokesman Mladen Pavić said that the demolition of buildings found unfit for use would start today.
Intensive work has been underway at Petrinja's Sajmište location for a few days and I expect the first container homes to also be set up there on Wednesday, Pavić said, adding that more container homes would be set up and connected to the necessary infrastructure as the ground was prepared.
He noted that by Friday 1,025 containers and prefab houses had been set up and that in the coming days everyone in need of temporary accommodation would be provided with a housing container.
"Those who needed it the most have already been provided with housing containers," he said.
Pavić said that the Commodity Stockpiles Directorate had announced the provision of about 400 more housing containers and that 111 were expected to arrive as part of international aid. That will help fully meet the need for around 1,500 containers, he said.
So far 45,187 facilities have been reported damaged and structural engineers have inspected 27,200, Pavić said.
COVID-19 Update: 551 New Infections, 26 Deaths
ZAGREB, 30 January, 2021 - In the last 24 hours Croatia has registered 551 new coronavirus cases and 26 related deaths, the national coronavirus response team reported on Saturday.
A total of 1,249 patients are hospitalised, including 113 on ventilators.
The number of active cases currently stands at 3,075 and 15,700 people are in self-isolation.
Since 25 February 2020, when the first case of the infection was confirmed in the country, 232,090 people have been infected with the virus, of whom 4,998 have died and 224,017 have recovered, including 567 in the last 24 hours.
A total of 1,186,046 people have been tested for the novel virus to date, including 5,195 in the last 24 hours.
Croats in NBA: Bogdanovic Scores Season-High 32 Points in Jazz Victory
January 30, 2021 - Croatian basketball player Bojan Bogdanovic scores season-high 32 points in the Utah Jazz's 120-101 victory against the Dallas Mavericks, which was Utah's 11th consecutive victory.
Utah continued a great series against Dallas, and Croatian basketball player Bojan Bogdanovic was brilliant, scoring 32 points in 32 minutes, which is his highest this season.
As many as 17 were scored in the third quarter which the hosts won 33-23. Bogdanovic scored 10/16 from shots in play, 7/11 from three-pointers, while he was 5/5 from the free-throw line. He also recorded two assists.
? | @44bojan ⤵️
— utahjazz (@utahjazz) January 30, 2021
32p | 7 3pm | 2a | 5-5 ft pic.twitter.com/NEOJP1o9jV
"The coaches told me that they want me to shoot more, to be aggressive," said the Croatian basketball player.
"I try to be my own and I try to be aggressive regardless of the shot percentage," Bogdanovic added.
"We are much better off when he is so aggressive," said Mike Conley who scored 22 points and nine assists.
Along with Bogdanovic and Conley, the best in the ranks of Utah were Jordan Clarkson with 18 points and six rebounds, and Rudy Gobert with 17 points and 12 rebounds, which is his eighth double-double in a row.
Slovenian Luka Doncic was the most efficient for the Mavericks with 25 points, six rebounds, and seven assists. Jalen Brunson added 13 points.
"Terrible, I'd say it looked like we didn’t care if we won. We just have to invest more energy and more effort," Doncic said after the match.
Utah leads the West 15-4, while Dallas has eight wins and 11 losses and holds 13th place in the same conference.
The LA Clippers also won, beating the Orlando Magic 116-90 on the road.
The Clippers were led by Paul George with 26 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, and Kawhi Leonard with 24 points.
"We were both great," George said when asked who was better.
"I was extremely relieved that we were both healthy, first of all. We played so well that it was unfortunate that we had to take a break, but safety comes first," he added.
The two stars had been quarantined according to the protocol since Monday. They were quarantined on Monday as the team headed from Los Angeles to Atlanta, and re-joined the team in Orlando after missing two games.
Ivica Zubac scored four points for the Clippers in 21 minutes, with 2/5 shots in play, and recorded seven rebounds and an assist. The most efficient for Orlanda was Terrence Ross with 24 points and Nikola Vucevic with 10 points and six rebounds.
The San Antonio Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets 119-109, and Luka Samanic did not play for the Spurs.
The Spurs were led by DeMar DeRozan with 30 points and 10 assists and Dejounte Murray with 26 points and seven rebounds, while the most efficient for Denver was Nikola Jokic with 35 points and 10 rebounds.
Source: HRT
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Spectacular Zadar Monument Greeting To The Sun Ready To Welcome Spring
January 30, 2021 – Following several months of careful restoration, the spectacular and much-loved Zadar monument 'Greeting To The Sun' is ready to welcome the warming rays of spring.
Following several months of careful restoration, the spectacular and much-loved Zadar monument 'Greeting To The Sun' is ready to welcome the warming rays of spring. The shoreline art installation was seriously damaged by a vandal in 2019. The mutilation caused by an inexplicable attack on the much-loved Zadar monument has taken time and care to put right.
The much-loved Zadar monument at sunset © zadar.hr
Greeting To The Sun is a seafront Zadar monument by architect Nikola Bašić. 22 metres in diameter and sitting at the entrance to the port on the western point of the Zadar peninsula, it is the perfect place to catch the Zadar sunset. As the light fades, the Zadar monument comes alive – lighting elements located within create a light show. It has become a popular focal point for tourists to visit and is equally loved by the city's residents and its university student community.
It is not the only Zadar monument to sit at this spot on the port peninsula. Representing the sun, it is surrounded by smaller discs which represent the other planets in our solar system. It is also just next to the Sea Organ Zagreb monument, which reacts to the ebbing tide. While the Sea Organ communicates using sound, Greeting To The Sun does so using light.
Greeting To The Sun © Böhringer Friedrich
Monuments, statues and public art live precarious existences in every country, including Croatia. Their survival often depends on the prevailing political ideals of the time and those who hold power in any country. Other pieces of public art, like this Zadar monument and Zagreb's own impressive sun-inspired works, are sadly at risk of mindless acts of vandalism. Such selfish and immature behaviour is perhaps the most sorrowing and difficult to understand.
To try and safeguard the future of this Zadar monument and its precious neighbours, the newly-restored Greeting To The Sun will be monitored by CCTV. With the introduction of the cameras, tourists soon will not be the only ones watching the sunset at this unforgettable vantage point.
Learning Croatian: the Hvar Dialect Language of Love
January 30, 2021 - Visiting Hvar and looking for the perfect language of love? Help is at hand in the latest in our Hvar dialect series with Professor Frank John Dubokovich.
Within a week of moving to Hvar all those years ago, I had met the girl of my dreams in the library in Jelsa and have been married to her for many years now. As such, I have never had any need for the language of love, Hvar-style, that is the focus of this week's lesson in Hvar dialect from Professor Frank John Dubokovich, Guardian of the Hvar Dialects.
The Professor, you may recall, became an Internet sensation several years ago when his iconic Dalmatian grunt was unleashed on an unsuspecting public, quickly racking up over 50,000 views before YouTube removed it for reasons unknown.
The Professor is the most successful man with the ladies I have ever met on all my travels to almost 100 countries in my 51 years, and while it is tempting to assume the Dalmatian grunt instantly melts female hearts, it turns out that the Professor has a whole arsenal of Hvar dialect terms dedicated to the language of love.
In this week's episode, which was recorded in early 2013 and is now once more back online, the Professor is joined by Hvar tour guide Dijana Moskatelo, whose classic Croatian phrases of the language of love seem to be a lot more comprehensible than the Professor's utterances. But who am I to judge?
If you would like to learn more about the dialect words spoken on Hvar, we are slowly restoring the popular series from the early days of Total Hvar to YouTube. You can subscribe to the TCN Talks YouTube channel for the latest updates.
For the latest news from Hvar, check out the dedicated TCN section.
With Just 200-400 Passengers Per Day, How is Split Airport Staying Busy During Pandemic?
January 30, 2021 - How is Split Airport staying busy during the COVID-19 pandemic? Mate Melvan of Split Airport talks about conditions, restrictions, and predictions.
After Split Airport saw a substantial investment to upgrade and expand its facilities just a few years ago, all to accommodate millions of passengers in the summer, the COVID-19 pandemic has left it empty.
Namely, Slobodna Dalmacija reports that there are only 200 to 400 passengers who pass on average in both directions a day, on five to six planes that land on the runway. During the week, passengers can fly directly to Rome, Munich, Frankfurt, and Dusseldorf, while all other destinations can only be reached via Zagreb.
With 3.3 million passengers in 2019, figures fell to 674 thousand last year. Mate Melvan, the head of the passenger reception and dispatch service, says that nothing can be worse than last year and predicts that next summer will be much better. Turnover has decreased by five times, but there is work to be done.
"Our work is more diverse and full of challenges. From hour to hour, we monitor the database with the epidemiological situation of each country, which changes the travel conditions for passengers on these flights," he says.
"Information is important because all that is reflected on us, and every day is a new rule for a country. It can be the same, similar, or completely different from ours or some other state, and coming to work does not mean that what we did yesterday will be valid today or even during the day. Passengers face changes practically just before the trip, which can be quite challenging. Many are full of understanding, cooperative, but some do not accept, resent, and think that we or the aviation industry make the rules, not the national headquarters of the states. And when they buy a ticket, they think we are obliged to transport them from point A to place B, that we are responsible. Sometimes they point out some illogicalities for a reason, but we have no choice but to abide by the regulations. Not only are measures taken in our country without prior notice, so it is within the entire Union and elsewhere," says Melvan.
Just one difficult passenger is enough:
"Last year, at one point after reopening, Germany only allowed entry if you have an “essential reason” which includes work, death, medical treatment. A few passengers on the first flight wanted to buy a car because they are engaged in resale. They bought the ticket thinking it was a good reason. We called the carrier, he called the border control, and at the same time, we contacted the operations center by e-mail. They said - no, that can't be a good reason. If he even makes it upstairs, he will be rejected and the carrier punished for bringing him up. So we had to inform the passengers, and they were not happy. For two days, one of them called the police, and then someone at the customs, trying to prove through everyone he knew that someone was to blame. Some travelers really don't understand," he added.
And that is just one example.
Melvan's associate Katarina Dujmov, the coordinator of the passenger service, says that it is increasingly difficult to meet the paperwork some countries require:
"In recent days, we have noticed that some countries have started to close in some way. They won't say 'there will be no travel from tomorrow,' but they will complicate the situation. Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands tightened the conditions, France was quite tough anyway. You need to have a fresh PCR test, so some are looking for an antigen test, and statements on why you are traveling there. A statement that you have not been in contact with a COVID patient, that you board a plane without a fever, that you have no symptoms. Every country has something of its own. All the slightly more northern countries, I guess, are thinking about the new strain of the virus. People travel for various reasons because they have to, and hardly anyone will go for tourism now. It is complicated," says Dujmov, emphasizing that they did not receive any instructions regarding passengers who were vaccinated.
However, there are still some traveling purely for tourism.
"These are people who resist the limitations of their lives and want to realize their desires. It is possible, but it requires a lot of effort and investment, and it is also risky. You can travel, and on the way back, a new measure can change the plan. No one can predict that" they added.
They say that, like the rest of the nation, they are becoming better experts in epidemiology every day.
Goran Boric, the operations center coordinator, deals with changes in the flight lists, and still has less stress than his colleagues, as changes happen within three weeks.
Mate Melvan believes that things will improve this summer and that more people will travel. His optimism is based on the experience of the last short season in which they raised traffic to 40 percent, and from twenty percent in other months.
Also, announcements for the season are excellent. Direct flights to 100 destinations in 25 different countries are open, and the European Commission's aviation industry rules are awaited to see what will be realized. By Easter, they will get a more realistic picture of how the flight schedule from Split Airport will look.
"The old normal will return, maybe the recovery will take a little longer, and this large area of the airport now benefits us because of COVID-19. There is room for space between people; the risk is reduced. Last summer, 500,000 passengers passed through here, some of whom probably had coronavirus, but no one became infected. Wearing a mask, distance and disinfection proved to be effective during the epidemic," says Mate Melvan.
To conclude, none of the 400 full-time employees of Split Airport was fired due to the reduced volume of work, but they brought a package of austerity measures which included a reduction in salaries for all.
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