Petrinja Mayor Darinko Dumbovic on Wednesday said that he was "unhappy" with a decision by the Environment Ministry and Sisak-Moslavina County on repurposing former army barracks in Cerkezovac in the town of Dvor into the site for a centre for radioactive waste management.

Dumbovic recalled that the fund for financing the decommissioning of Krsko Nuclear Power Plant and the disposal of its radioactive waste had stated on Tuesday that it had received the approval from the Energy and Environment Ministry for the use of former Cerkezovac barracks for establishment of a Radioactive Waste Disposal Centre.

The mayor considers the announcement of such decision amidst the coronavirus pandemic, consequences of the earthquake in Zagreb, and growing fears, to be an act of “utter hypocrisy”.

He branded Prefect Ivo Zinic and Environment Minister Tomislav Coric “as undertakers and a natural disaster for Sisak-Moslavina County”.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Foreign Trade Minister Stasa Kosarac previously expressed his disagreement with the decision due to the proximity of the barracks to Bosnia’s border and claimed that the construction of the centre in the border region would jeopardise 250,000 people and the Una River.

The Zagreb-based Fund says in its press release that during the implementation of the project it will permanently cooperate with the local community and the general public as well as with stakeholders across the border, that is nearby municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.