Withdraw the proposal of the Maritime Domain and Seaports Act from parliamentary procedure!
The initiative “Javno je dobro”, the associations gathered in the Green Forum and many others warn that the proposal of the Maritime Domain and Seaports Act (MDSA) introduces the privatization of public maritime domain and enables the exclusion of the public from the use of maritime domain, which until now has been a public good. We appeal to urgently stop the excessive exploitation of the maritime domain because this draft law will result in the continuation of the trend of overbuilding the coast and maritime domain, as well as the trend of coastal extension in the sea, which undeniably causes irreversible damage to the marine environment and our natural landscape.
We demand the immediate withdrawal of the proposed Law from the parliamentary procedure. We are seeking for the creation of a new MDSA proposal that will protect the sea and the coast, which will ensure 100% free access to all beaches, provide environmental protection mechanisms, and guarantee the preservation of the maritime domain as a common good!
We believe that this proposal for the Maritime Domain and Seaports Act which, unfortunately and despite numerous objections (914 of them) in the e-consultation, passed the Government and was sent to the Parliament, will change the status of the maritime domain! The maritime domain now has the status of a public good, which means that it serves everyone equally, with this law economic entities get the possibility to use the beach and exclude the public, so we can be left without the most valuable space we have – our coast!
On this occasion, we invite citizens to a peaceful gathering on Saturday, January 28, at Bačvice in Split at exactly noon to convey our message – The sea, beaches, and coasts are 100% ours!
Also, a protest is planned in Zagreb on February 2 at noon on St Mark’s Square in cooperation with initiatives and associations from all over Croatia, mostly from coastal and island communities along the Adriatic, and organized by the Citizens’ Initiative “Javno je dobro”.
How does this Act make maritime property a private resource?
The proposal of the Maritime Domain and Seaports Act contains several shortcomings that can lead to the fulfillment of the diametrically opposite goal of the Act itself, which is the destruction of the concept of the maritime domain as a good of general use that must be for the benefit and responsibility of all citizens of the Republic of Croatia.
1. Obligations to respect the principles of environmental protection are ignored
We warn against ignoring the obligation to respect the principles of environmental protection in the entire proposed text of the proposal of this act, but we would dare to say also at the conceptual level of the text proponent. Ignoring the need to protect the sea and the coast, while emphasizing the aspects of use, takes us back in history for at least 20, if not more, years. It is inadmissible at a time when the Republic of Croatia itself is bringing a whole spectrum of strategies and other planning documents that impose green development, and sustainable principles and encourage us to green our ideas, that a proposal for a legislative act envisages the exploitation of the largest natural resource of the Republic of Croatia without a single mechanism or guarantee of preservation.
2. Citizens could be excluded from 70% of organized beaches
We believe that the law should unequivocally prohibit the exclusion of the public from the use of maritime property. We don’t want to have private hotels and catering beaches, just as we don’t want to allow the filling, construction, and exclusion of the public from using any part of the beach for the sake of tourist facilities!
Namely, according to the proposal of the Act, citizens could be excluded from 70% of arranged beaches under hotel complexes, campsites, and catering facilities. Does this mean that from now on we will have beaches, as Alan Ford would say, for the rich, which will be labeled “30% for citizens and dogs”?
The new law will enable the concession of arranged beaches in tourist settlements at the request of the concessionaire if the beach forms a functional, infrastructural, and spatial unit with one catering and accommodation unit in the construction area for catering and tourist purposes outside the resort. Certainly, the owners of hotel complexes and campsites, tourist, and catering facilities all over the Croatian coast will take advantage of this perfect opportunity! And that’s why we insist that the beaches are 100% ours, 100% free for all our citizens!
3. Beach filling and coastal extension in the sea are insufficiently regulated by law
Coastal extensions and beach nourishment destroy the plant and animal life in the sea! With the new proposal, beach filling, and coastal extensions are finally regulated by law. Still, not enough. Provisions are prone to different interpretations, and coastal extension in the sea which is prohibited by law, is nevertheless allowed in many different forms and without sufficiently precise regulation and supervision. We ask that it is expressly prohibited to fill/top up with material with soil admixtures! We ask that the Law give priority to the design of beaches that do not require continuous beach filling! We ask that the coastal extension be treated as an extremely permissible action when necessary!
4. The Government of the Republic of Croatia can always grant or take over a concession regardless of jurisdiction
Additional concern is caused by the article which stipulates that “if a certain project is of interest to the Republic of Croatia or if it deems it justified, the Government of the Republic of Croatia can always grant or take over a concession regardless of jurisdiction”. Privatization of public goods and services is characteristic of the package of values of every party in power that passes the law, and that is why such a bill is not surprising, it is completely in line with the previous attitude towards the public good. We have seen the effects of previous privatization on society and the economy.
Is the voice of citizens respected?
The extent to which environmental protection is marginalized is also shown by the fact that representatives of environmental associations are not included in the Working Group for drafting the proposal for the new Act. If the Parliament accepts our request and withdraws the proposal of the Act from the parliamentary procedure, we persist in asking for the inclusion of representatives of the Green Forum in the Working Group for the preparation of a new proposal.