ZAGREB, 21 December, 2021 - Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević said on Tuesday that an outdoor New Year's Eve celebration in Zagreb's Ban Josip Jelačić Square would most probably be held but that the national COVID-19 response team might make some last-minute decisions as the epidemiological situation is unpredictable.
Speaking to reporters after the opening of a post-COVID clinic as part of the city's hospital for lung diseases, Tomašević said that he talked to the head of the COVID-19 response team, Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović, regarding the New Year Eve's celebration in Zagreb.
"For the time being most towns in Croatia, including Zagreb, are planning outdoor celebrations so they will most probably be held but considering the unpredictable epidemiological developments, notably the Omicron variant, some last-minute recommendations are possible," said the mayor, noting that it if the New Year's Eve outdoor party in downtown Zagreb was held, it would be held in an enclosed section of the main square which citizens would be able to enter only with COVID certificates.
New decision on waste management by end of January
Commenting on a growing number of illegal landfills, notably on the outskirts of Zagreb, Tomašević said that legislative changes and stricter penalties were a part of the solution.
He said the City Assembly would adopt a new decision on waste management by the end of January, with different proposals as to how to charge citizens, in the transitional period, for waste collection depending on the quantity of waste.
Tomašević said that the model with outdoor waste containers was not appropriate for charging citizens for the amount of waste produced because anyone could throw in those containers whatever they wanted, so different proposals would be put forward as to charges for different quantities of the waste generated.
