Sinj Mayor Miro Bulj unilaterally decided to reopen the Mojanka landfill on Wednesday, a day after it was closed by the State Inspectorate. According to the decision he signed, only waste collected within the area of Sinj may be temporarily deposited there, the City of Sinj announced.
The decision followed a tumultuous morning in front of the Split-Dalmatia County building, where Bulj arrived in a waste transport truck. The ramp of the official car park was not opened to him, which briefly blocked citizens whose vehicles were parked there. The mayor then briefly addressed journalists and met with County President Blaženko Boban, but the discussion yielded no solution.
According to the City’s announcement, Bulj intended to dump the waste on the plaza in front of the County building, but police prevented this. The truck driver was issued a fine for illegal parking.
After the meeting, Bulj headed towards Sinj but changed his mind and returned to the County building. "I thought about it a bit after my drive. I will open Mojanka on my own authority. Only Sinj will be able to deposit waste there, not Trilj, Hrvace, Dicmo or Otok. I am doing this at my own responsibility," he stated.
By official decision, the previous regulation on landfill management was temporarily suspended, and the new one remains valid until the conclusion of the appeal procedure and the final decision of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition. In his justification, Bulj stated that he took the measure to protect public health and the environment, as well as the normal functioning of the city, noting that the City of Sinj is the sole owner of the landfill.
The State Inspectorate banned waste disposal at Mojanka with a decision which, according to Slobodna Dalmacija, the municipal company Čistoća Cetinske krajine received on 14 July. The company is jointly owned by Sinj, Trilj, Dicmo, Hrvace and Otok, so the ban without a landfill left the entire Cetinska krajina region in a difficult position.
Bulj claims that Mojanka never had an operating permit, but that the City produced all necessary documentation and built new cells to increase capacity. He recalled that the landfill was supposed to have been closed as early as 2018, when the Regional Waste Management Centre Lećevica was scheduled to begin operations, but it remains unopened to this day.
