Bridge MPs Zvonimir Troskot and Marin Miletić sharply criticized the Prime Minister for his handling of the hazardous waste affair in Lika, accusing him of protecting the former minister and ignoring residents' fears.
Bridge MPs Zvonimir Troskot and Marin Miletić on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, accusing him of showing a complete disconnect from reality and a lack of empathy for Lika residents living in fear of hazardous waste contamination during his press conference the day before.
"What struck us, what we had the chance to watch yesterday, was Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's press conference, where he callously and without a shred of empathy injected toxic PR and words like 'hysteria' and 'panic'," Troskot said at a press conference at Bridge's headquarters.
Troskot noted that tests funded by Lika residents themselves confirmed the presence of PFAS chemicals and toxic compounds in groundwater. "We saw that PFAS was identified in taps in Otočac and Gospić," he stressed, adding that HDZ members and ministers obstructed the uncovering of the hazardous waste dumping affair in the Gospić area.
He specifically warned about the situation in Lički Osik, where water smells like burning plastic, and the danger that contamination could spread to the hinterland of Zadar County. According to him, every lost day increases the likelihood that PFAS chemicals will irreversibly end up in the ecosystem and residents' taps.
Bridge MP Marin Miletić also sharply criticized the Prime Minister's appearance after the ruling coalition meeting held on August 11. "There are two possibilities: either the man is completely detached from reality, or he is so deep in power that he thinks no one can touch him," Miletić said.
He reminded that the problem with waste unloading in Lika has been ongoing since 2019 and asked who will bear criminal responsibility and why USKOK is only investigating the period after 2022. "Plenković is protecting his minister Tomislav Ćorić, and we won't allow that. In 2021, he signed the full liberalization of toxic waste imports from the European Union into Croatia. Ćorić did that as the then-acting minister," Miletić asserted.
Speaking about possible remediation solutions, Troskot emphasized that hazardous waste must be treated the same as nuclear waste. "That's what experts in the field we've contacted say. So, it must go into barrels and containers, deep underground. We should already be opening a discussion on this," he said, describing it as a temporary solution until technology development enables safe remediation.
He also expressed concern that the entire waste could end up in Third World countries like Indonesia or Africa. "The problem is that there's something called the Aarhus Convention from 1998, according to which those Third World countries, if they discover it's actually illegal waste, have the right to send it back to us," Troskot warned.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Plenković tweeted on Monday evening that a meeting of the inner cabinet and coalition was held regarding the waste situation in Gospić, Lika-Senj County. "The main messages are: the criminal process is underway, remediation is accelerating, and the coalition is stable, with everyone wanting the perpetrators of these crimes to be most severely sanctioned," he wrote.
Troskot, however, ironically commented on an earlier move by Gospić Mayor Darko Milinović, who drank water in the town square to show it wasn't contaminated. "Anyone who falls for the 'Vučić PR trick' where someone will now come to Gospić and drink water in front of the public, know that Gospić Mayor Darko Milinović has already done that," he said.
Bridge MPs called on all citizens to attend the protest scheduled for Sunday, August 16, in Lika, organized by the association "Gospić bez otrova" (Gospić Without Poison).
Meanwhile, Luka Balen, director of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, explained to N1 the dynamics of the remediation, emphasizing that this was years of illegal dumping and that the Fund approached the problem in several phases. "That's why we launched the first and second phases, which means: the loose waste near the silos, 4,500 tons of hazardous waste, and the big bags, about 300 big bags, 650 tons of non-hazardous, characterized waste," Balen said. He added that bids in the procurement procedure are expected by August 25, and the public will be immediately informed of the results.
Balen noted that the most complex part of the remediation is the 33,000 tons of buried, mixed waste. Since such hazardous waste cannot be disposed of in Croatia, the Fund sent inquiries to 70 hazardous waste landfills and incinerators across the European Union. "We set a deadline, and once we receive that data for the most complex part of the remediation, we are simultaneously preparing the procurement procedure, a lawful, transparent procurement procedure, and negotiated procedures are also lawful, we're moving in that direction," he said. Understanding residents' concerns, he reiterated that neither the Fund nor the Ministry were legally responsible for such remediations, but they promptly reacted by amending the waste management plan in July last year, after which the Fund was tasked and a remediation decision was made in November.
The first two phases of remediation were launched after the publication of analyses by the State Inspectorate and the Teaching Institute for Public Health "Dr. Andrija Štampar". Balen announced that in September, he would discuss all options with the association "Naš Gospić" and present the collected data for the most complex part of the remediation.
