MP Pupovac slams government over living conditions in quake-hit areas

Pupovac warned that "even though a lot has been done to accommodate people in areas hit by earthquake in December, it is unimaginable to still have housing containers (for survivors) with no access to running water or drainage."

"I appeal for that to be urgently changed," Pupovac said in Parliament, and added that roads in the largely rural area need to be made passable and that administrative procedures for reconstruction need to be simplified.

"If people need to provide 10-15 different documents, or search for property co-owners around the globe (to sign the papers) in order to apply (for reconstruction funding), this will never get solved," he warned, and added that "if the relevant ministry wants to play with red tape, then it won't be able to count on our support," Pupovac said.

Pupovac is the leader of the main political party of ethnic Serb minority in Croatia which controls all three seats reserved for Serbs in Croatia's 151-seat Parliament. His party is a junior member of the ruling coalition led by the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) which mantains a fragile majority in Parliament.