Puljak from Dugi Rat: Plenković Must Go
Centre Party representatives link Gospić hazardous waste scandal to unsanitized ferrochrome slag in Dugi Rat and demand the government's removal.
Centre Party representatives link Gospić hazardous waste scandal to unsanitized ferrochrome slag in Dugi Rat and demand the government's removal.
At a press conference held on Thursday, August 13, 2026, at the site of the former factory in Dugi Rat, Centre Party MP Marijana Puljak and Split-Dalmatia County assembly member Gorana Rosandić sharply criticized the government and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. The occasion was the hazardous waste affair in Gospić, and the message was clear: this is not an isolated case but part of a broader pattern.
They presented Dugi Rat as an example of years of systematic neglect of environmental issues. According to their claims, more than 200,000 tons of unsanitized ferrochrome slag, a material rich in heavy metals, lies right next to the sea coast.
Puljak emphasized that what is happening in Gospić is not an isolated incident. "Gospić is the rule! Dugi Rat is living proof of that rule," she said. She also highlighted her personal connection to the area, noting that she comes from Krilo Jesenice and attended elementary school there.
"None of us mourn the old polluting industries. On the contrary, we hoped that with the arrival of new times, this would become a well-ordered space, a new opportunity for our children and the development of our region. However, all that was left behind is hazardous waste and the state's systematic neglect," Puljak stated.
The MP reminded that by the end of 2019, the state had a legal obligation to take over the remediation after a private investor failed to meet the deadlines. She also accused the government of refusing, for seven years, to approve budget amendments seeking to resolve the issue.
"The latest official documents say that 'additional research' has been completed and that we are now again waiting for a decision on further actions. Seven years after the deadline, they are still preparing decisions," Puljak said.
Connecting the Dugi Rat case with the current Gospić affair, Puljak argued that the government has failed at both locations. "The government has failed in Lika, the government has been deliberately sleeping in Dugi Rat for years, and citizens are paying the price for this negligence. That is why it is time to replace this government," she said.
She also commented on Prime Minister Plenković's reaction to the Gospić case, stating that the only responsible response would be his resignation.
"In a well-ordered state, after such scandals and years of ignoring hazardous waste, the only proper and responsible reaction from the prime minister would be to offer his resignation and say: 'My part is done, and I am leaving!'", Puljak said.
Gorana Rosandić focused on the potential health consequences for the local population and demanded answers about the monitoring previously requested by the parliamentary Environment Protection Committee. "For the citizens of Dugi Rat, this is not a matter sitting in some minister's drawer; this is the area next to their homes and their sea," Rosandić stressed.
She reminded that the Committee had already requested continuous population monitoring, health data analysis, and air quality tracking in Dugi Rat back in 2023.
"Three years later, we ask: where are the results? If monitoring is being conducted, citizens must see it; if it is not, we want to know why. As a county assembly member, I will demand full data on what the County and the Teaching Institute of Public Health have done. We no longer want promises of remediation; we want remediation!" Rosandić concluded.
The Centre Party announced that they will continue their political and legal fight for the remediation of environmental black spots the very next day, on Friday, August 14, 2026, at the session of the parliamentary Environment Protection Committee in Gospić.
