Veterans' Minister Tomo Medved, who heads the task force dealing with the aftermath of last year's earthquakes in the Banija area of central Croatia, has said that about 200 buildings are being demolished in Banovina and that new damage was caused to buildings by the latest tremor last Saturday, state news agency Hina reported.

“It is already obvious that it will be necessary to demolish additional buildings that were damaged previously. Unfortunately, that is an ongoing process we have been living with for seven months. After each new tremor, we conduct a new classification. Our priority is to remove buildings that pose a threat to people,” Medved said.

He “underscored” that the reconstruction process currently refers to 1,500 buildings, including about 400 that have already been completed or are nearing completion, Hina said.

“In addition to that, we are implementing measures to revive the local economy. One example is the farm sector, where numerous measures are being implemented, and today we have about 15,000 head of cattle in Sisak-Moslavina County as well as numerous infrastructure and other investments,” said Medved, “recalling” that the damage caused by last year’s earthquakes was estimated at 41.5 billion kuna (€5.5 billion), Hina said.

(€1 = 7.52 kuna)