February 27, 2022 - Young Hvar locals have expressed their dissatisfaction with the new Vrboska bridge and their 'headstrong' mayor, prompting a response from mayor Nikša Peronja.

Vrboska, a picturesque village within the Jelsa Municipality, located in a deep bay in the northern part of Hvar island, is in the spotlight after the local youth, dissatisfied with the appearance of the new bridge, told the public that they had enough of their headstrong mayor.

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"The dissatisfaction of the people of Vrboska has been going on for some time; it is not from yesterday. This bridge is just a drop in the bucket," a 63-year-old resident said for Morksi.hr, noting that he would be happy to share the whole story, but it would then take us hours of conversation, and he doubts that the media coverage of all the real problems facing the people of Vrboska would change anything.

"Vrboska does not need a road bridge at all. It is in the shape of a horseshoe, and the road was built in the 1960s and leans on that horseshoe. So this bridge could easily have been the most common wooden pedestrian bridge, and not a bridge for road traffic," the local adds. 

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Morski learned that the price of the concrete bridge jumped from the original 1.8 to more than 4 million kuna. The bridge is almost a meter higher than the original project, selected by a seven-member jury five years ago, including SDP Jelsa mayor Nikša Peronja, who addressed the dissatisfied residents last week on his Facebook profile.

"The bridge will be completed approximately two weeks before Easter, and we have coordinated this with the contractor, designers, and all other participants in the project. I know that various stories and theories have appeared in Vrboska; most are completely unfounded and have no basis in reality. You must understand that it is the worst for me because I have objections, not the designer who had to change the project several times. We had a problem with mud at the bottom and even a problem with wells that did not show the correct condition of the soil. We encountered a whole series of problems, and the construction of the bridge took some time," said Peronja.

According to the mayor, the old bridge was statically defective and thus unsafe to use, so it was out of order. However, he is convinced that the locals of Vrboska will be satisfied in the end.

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The locals of Vrboska say the municipality makes good money - both from the sale of land and from utilities. But some of them claim that little is being invested in this settlement with about 500 permanent residents who would like to get, for example, public transport and bus stops. In addition, the residents of Vrboska would like to get a new cemetery with a morgue, and the mayor promises that this wish will soon be fulfilled.

"You have to understand that when I came, there was almost nothing, we started from the beginning - we made changes and amendments to the Urban Plan, we bought land for the construction of the cemetery and morgue, we made all the necessary documentation and obtained a building permit. The paving of the cemetery remains, which will begin in about 15 days. And that should also be over by Easter," the mayor of Jelsa promised to Vrboska.

As for the morgue, it should also be completed by the end of this year, according to the mayor.

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