Petition to stop development on Hvar

[Frederick]

Here is a link to an online petition to stop a proposed development on Hvar which you can sign if you support:

www.PetitionOnline.com/P1l2g3i4/petition.html

Check out www.florianaoline.com for info on the development.

Here is a summary of the petition:

On the Natural and Cultural Beauty of the Island of Hvar – An Initiative to Save Pelegrin Peninsula

The peninsula Pelegrin on the island of Hvar, a magnificent natural forest preserve, already twice proposed for protection as a natural park, site of invaluable cultural monuments of great archeological and historical significance, is being prepared for devastation. In the course of the next ten years, if developers and vested interests gain sway, where once stood magnificent forests, and unique archeological and prehistoric monuments from the neolithic and bronze age –luxury villas, six 150-200 bed hotels, a golf-course, "private" roads, "private" beaches and marinas will dominate the remnants of the once beautiful landscape. They form part of plans for the exclusive luxury resort "Floriana", drawn up by the English developer Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo for the Italian businessman and real estate magnate Riccardo Mazzucchelli [usp. www.florianaonline.com/ ]. Mazzucchelli, manager of the existing concession on the former state hunting grounds on the Pelegrin peninsula, already considers a large section of the peninsula his private property. Just last August he was quoted by the official newsletter of the Italian consulate in Split as saying, he would not be disappointed if plans for 'Floriana' fell through, because he would "still have several kilometers of coast on the most beautiful sea in the world' (Archivio terzo trimestre 2005, 17. Aug. 2005.) "Private" roads and beaches are not, however, a possibility according to the law of the Republic of Croatia, making Mazzuchelli's claims preposterous and a direct offense to the Croatian state. It is therefore imperative that the question of ownership rights on the Pelegrin peninsula be investigated, since the sale of any part of the area in question would be in direct violation of the moral and legal obligation of the Hvar City officials entrusted with its supervision, and a betrayal of the public interest of the national and international community in protecting this unique natural preserve and the invaluable archeological, historical and cultural heritage of humanity located in it.

[mambo]

I smell a lot of business here !

If this guy is going to build his golfcourse the whole island will be without water (unless they build an additional high capacity waterline and waterpump next to the existing one)!

And without water there will be no ice cubes..................IZI ICE to the rescue !

[yeslehc]

what about the work and jobs it will create, which Dalmatia is in desperate need of at the moment, I wonder wether this is a Nimby situation, Frederick.

[Steve]

I do not think that the construction would create any jobs for the locals - recently there was major recontruction of many of the hotels in Hvar town, and virtually all the workforce came from outside Croatia. The prevalent local attitude appears to be to do the minumum amount of work to get by.

[yeslehc]

I completely agree with you, on them being work shy, but at least they cannot say they were not given the chance, and blame the serbians

[darcy]

I think this is more the matter of corruption.

No matter how Croatians are annoyed by the foreigners "stealing" their own land, their own Croatian politicians they voted for are the ones stealing the Dalmatian coast.

[irac]

Steve and yes, it's not being workshy, locals (even Dalmatians) are good workers, but only on their own terms. They don't understand the concept of contract, of what is regarded as a proper finished job, that lying to get a job and then having an endless list of excuses and reasons why they're late/incompetent/over budget etc is not good for repeat business. I've met some of the best quality tradespeople here and while they are a tiny minority, their ethic and skill would rival any. But there are too many who try to work as little for as much and cannot be advised on what is the best way to do a job.

The Hvar development is no different to any number of foreign and local businesses who have gotten concessions and put nothing back. What's worse is the number of politicians and uncivil servants who are happily dipping their hands in the kitty. It's no wonder they use their media to promote anti-EU ideals, imagine their fear at being made to share the wealth of the country and EU funds with the citizens who voted them into power!

[Charles]

On very good authority - the project, first time round, had got through to the final approval stage. It was put before the authorities on Hvar and one of the benefits cited was that it would create over 3,000 jobs. At this point a murmur went round the meeting room - 'but we don't have 3,000 unemployed people on Hvar' said a member of the council. Well, 'people can move from Brac and the mainland' was the reply.
This was the reason that a multi-multi million investment was rejected - that Hvar council didn't want Croatians from other islands or the mainland to move to Hvar! Forget the environmental issues for now - this says a lot for the mentality of some people here. The long term financial gains would have been clear (I think) but what do I know....

The profits may get repatriated but I think it is all too easy to overlook the community taxes, the profit taxes, the wider customer spending on the island, the employment created, the higher profile generrated which in turn brings spending customers...etc...etc. Keeping this out of the back pockets of local civil 'servants' is a real challenge I totally agree.

Croatia has a choice. If it wants to attract high-spending tourists ( and I agree that this is not necessarily a perfect solution) then it has to offer the facilities that they want to use. Very simple.
Some 20% plus of Croatia's GDP is tourism generated. Unless someone can think of better ways to generate jobs and create wealth (EVERYONES?! end goal)...maybe re-instate Adriachem? then this kind of development will have to come. Lord Salisbury's 'splendid isolation' doesn't pay for education and health care spending. Competing with lower cost countries even in Europe is tough given that Croatia has a limited industrial/commercial base to start with. Trying to compete with China and India will be impossible and competing with the more advanced nations in technology and value-added services will be tough as well.

Croatia has a great natural resource which the government is very keen (rightly) to protect. The challenge is to exploit this in a favourable way both for the environment and the local economy. Fearing foreign investment is crazy. Getting sustainable development with well-thought out infrastructure improvements in a controlled manner should be what everyone is aiming for, no matter the source of the money. If done professionally, both investors and Croatia will benefit.

[capio]

I would sign a petition to sack all hvar taxi drivers, cheating ******'s, I had injured my foot and was told to pay 150 kunas for less than 3 km down empty roads, I told him to get bent.

[rijekafan]

steve3 said:

I do not think that the construction would create any jobs for the locals - recently there was major recontruction of many of the hotels in Hvar town, and virtually all the workforce came from outside Croatia. The prevalent local attitude appears to be to do the minumum amount of work to get by.

The simple fact in building here is he or she who has the best Bosnians or Slavonians wins! Along the coast young guys just dont want to do this sort of work anymore.