13.05.2019.
Waste Management Centre Bikarac is the project of strategic importance for Šibenik-Knin County, for which the construction contract was signed between the director of the company Bikarac, Robert Podrug, and the director of GH Holding, Ronald Tušar, in the presence of Tomislav Ćorić and Dubravko Ponoš, the minister of environment and the director of the Fund respectively.
The design and works contract for the construction of WMC and accompanying facilities at the Waste Management Centre Bikarac is co-financed by the European Union from the Cohesion Fund, the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, the Ministry of Environment and Energy, and the Town of Šibenik, and it is worth HRK 196 million. The project started back in 2006. As part of the first phase of the project, the existing landfill was remediated and closed, and a new sanitary landfill was built. In the second phase, which includes the construction of WMC, two transfer stations have already been built, and special equipment and vehicles purchased.
The director of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, Dubravko Ponoš, said that the problems, especially those related to the long duration of the procurement procedure, had prolonged the project, but the real work was just starting. “This is just one part of infrastructure construction. It is a complex and lengthy process. Finally, Croatia is heading in the right direction, the time is good and the wind in our sails, and I’m confident that we will keep on the right course until we have the complete system in place. Education of the citizens is key, as all this will remain empty words unless the citizens use this infrastructure in the best possible way,” said Ponoš.
The minister of environment and energy, Tomislav Ćorić, pointed out that the system in Croatia had seen some positive changes in the last years. Currently two centres are operational, and now the contracts have been signed for Bikarac and Biljane Donje in Zadar County. The minister said that during the year the decisions would be adopted for several more centres, and this step in the system of construction of the required infrastructure meant moving in the right direction. “For some time, Croatia as a country was wandering this way and that in the waste management system, but it is now past tense; we have made it clear that an increase in the rate of separation of waste is the precondition and such rational behaviour is a given, as is the infrastructure construction,” commented minister Ćorić.
The mayor of Šibenik, Željko Burić, expressed his satisfaction with the conclusion of the contract at the moment when the waste is a burning topic. “Many people simply do not understand that there is a huge difference between just throwing the rubbish and waste management. In many towns and areas we are witnessing debates about where this waste will end up, since no one wants it in their backyard, but everyone somehow forgets that they also have a stake in generating the waste”, said mayor Burić, praising the cooperation of the Town and County on this issue. The head of Šibenik County, Goran Pauk, said that waste management poses one of the greatest challenges, and that it was high time to start managing waste successfully as it will systematically resolve both economic and environmental issues.
The director of Bikarac, Robert Podrug, thanked everyone who contributed to the implementation of this project. He said that the deadline for the construction of the centre was 30 months, and that afterwards the citizens of Šibenik, Knin, Drniš, Vodice, Skradin, and municipalities in Šibenik-Knin County would finally have available a long-term quality waste management system complying with the highest EU standards.