Interview - Ivan Kusalić - Fort Imperial
Ivan Kusalić, Proxy of Razvoj golf, the Company which started the new media offensive
War Veterans are manipulated through the Homeland War Museum
Company Razvoj Golf has started again with the media campaign. They are ahead of obtaining the Location permit for the Golf resort on Srđ. The “golfers” did not presented their arguments since the High Administrative Court cancelled the decision of government Commissioner regarding the changes of UPU and regarding of tripling the size of Golf park on Srđ, so we open the interview with Ivan Kusalić, proxy of Razvoj Golf with question if is it possible that after this judgment of the Court, that all other permits regarding Srđ became non valid?
The judgments are not to be commented but executed. In this case the judgment is executed by County of Dubrovnik-Neretva in June 2015. by declaring consolidated text of the UPU. By execution of the judgment the decision on the adoption of the UPU from 2006. is no longer valid and everything that was declared after that decision still stands , like in the case of UPU. It was first made in 2003. and changed in 2005. and 2006. In 2010. the County has made comprehensive changes of the UPU including the redefinition of the golf park coverage that now stands on 310 ha, and those changes of the UPU are brought according to the procedures , and they were brought by County Council and there were no objections on that UPU. By final declaring of the consolidated text of the UPU all speculation were dropped, because we know which regulations stand for certain project, a which are cancelled by the judgment. The judgment is clear and it’s effect is limited to the 2006. changes. I want to point out that in the 2006. Razvoj golf did not exist, and the investors were not thinking about involving in this project.
We conducted all necessary researches for the Imperial
Mrs. Maja Frenkel has just announced that construction will start in September 2015. And you still don’t have permits?
According to the laws and the UPU we have made the project documentation for the Location permit for entire coverage of the project and we hope that this project documentation will soon be approved and that the location permit will be issued. That does not mean that construction can start immediately, but it represents a major step in project development.
Is Razvoj golf as investor consulted or included in any way in preparations of City of Dubrovnik regarding the UNESCOs commission that has to determine the influence of golf resort building on the Old City ?
All the documentations that we made so far are available to the City of Dubrovnik and the Ministry of Culture. The UNESCO status of Dubrovnik is well supported with extensive documentation and it is clear that the coverage of the protected zones and the buffer zones are nowhere near the coverage of the Golf Park Dubrovnik. That denunciation of one Association, has no factual links with our project, and I think that it is very malicious because it creates not nice and falls image of the City and the County as regions that does not support sustainable development. In the studies of view protection and the influences on the landscape of the City, we were able to show, with the help of top Croatian experts, that the planned construction will have no negative effect on vistas and the landscape of Dubrovnik.
Dubrovnik Heritage department gave consent to the Conceptual design made by Željko Peković of the reconstruction of Fort Imperial , with an issued warning that “it is necessary to pay attention of the Contract between the City and the Dubrovnik museums from 2007. and the Concession contract between the City and Razvoj golf from 2009. and the conclusion of the City council from July 25th 2015” The City council chairman has just written to the Ministry not to issue the Location permit without the approval of the City of Dubrovnik ?
We are committed by the Concession contract to restore the Fort to it’s origin with obligation of arranging the Homeland War museum in the ground floor of the Fortress part in total area of 311 m2. In project documentation for the Location permit, that was discussed on the City Council , and that permit is to be issued by Ministry of Construction, the position of the Homeland War Museum is not defined and no others areas inside of the Fort are also no defined because only external dimensions are described in that documentation. For that, we don’t need the approval of the City of Dubrovnik but without that approval we will not be able to make the project documentation for the reconstruction of the Fort Imperial, which is our first step after gaining the Location permit.
In the Concession Contract stands that the concession is approved because of the protection of Homeland War dignity and the position of the Homeland War Museum is determined. Why are you changing the position of the museum with the conceptual design?
We have not moved the museum to the area that is not under the Concession contract. In the process of making the documentation for the Imperial we were working closely with the Ministry of Culture and the Dubrovnik Heritage department and we made all necessary researches and heritage studies in the process of making solutions of the Fort reconstructions by the professionals, regarding the functioning of the future museum on the present location.
The decision regarding the museum will be brought by the City of Dubrovnik
Who were the professionals who made those researches?
They are our associates, planners and people that work on this project, and also the professionals from the heritage department and the Ministry of Culture. We have to restore the Fort by the Heritage department guidance , and we now have the situation that the temporary exhibition of the Homeland war is entered through the ceiling. That entrance must be closed and restored to it’s origin. By respecting the heritage department guidance the main entrance in the central part of the Fort will be from the south part. In that way, the area of the temporary exhibition of the Homeland war is less attractive and assessable for the visitors of the Fort. The functioning of the museum itself is also in question because of the communication with the south entrance, fire protection, disabled people access etc. The Concession Contract gives us right to propose other location for the museum so we made two conceptual designs, for the current location and for the location in the west bastion with 435 m2 for the museum and with additional space for museum functioning like entrances, reception, depo, public communication area (stairways, elevators, halls) toilets as well as additional educational centre for special events. All together it will be triple in size from the 311 m2 from the Concession contract.
We want the Homeland War Museum to be modern and functional, and we do not just want to fulfil the obligation by restoring the three areas in the ground floor. That is why we made two conceptual designs, the current one and the other where we located the museum in the west bastion.
Is it true that the west bastion is not under concession because it is not entirely owned by the City?
Concession is assigned for the entire Fort and that includes the central part and two bastions (east and west) that are owned by the City. The statement that the west bastion is not under concession is falls. The fact is that the part of the west bastion, the plot of 127 m2 on which the tower antenna is located is in the property of the company OiV.
The relocation of the museum is not a contractual obligation because in the concession contracts the location of the museum is clearly defined?
The preservation of dignity of the Homeland war and the role that the Fort had in the Homeland war is the reason why the City of Dubrovnik concluded the Concession contract and we fully accept and respect them. Those are the facts known from the beginning and we are guided by them. The question is, should we only full the contractual obligations or go a step further and to think what that museum means to the Veterans and to the City and what is the best solution for all. We want the professionals and the Veterans to give the answer to that question.
Are the veterans not right when they say that Razvoj golf is acting arbitrarily, because you do not open that Museum. It is not your responsibility to design the museum, the City of Dubrovnik is obligated to do that. Do you have another cultural purpose for that are ?
When you are given an assignment and you think that you can do that assignment in a much better way, don’t you think that you are obligated to point to the alternative solutions. In the end, the final decision will be brought by the City of Dubrovnik and not by the Razvoj golf.
That is the reason why I asked you what professionals consider the second solution to be the better one for the Museum?
I consider that in this debate regarding the position of the Museum no one even looked nor analyzed the proposed conceptual design and I think that unfortunately, the veterans are manipulated in this debate. By Contract, concessionaire has the right to propose another location for the museum within the fort because the interest of the concessionaire itself is that the museum function as it’s best. I believe that the veterans want the same. I hope that we will get the chance and the invitation by the City of Dubrovnik to argument that and to present the project on the professional level and that we can held a professional discussion so that the City of Dubrovnik can make the best decision. That is the reason why we made two conceptual designs so that the professionals and the veterans can discuss them, but the final decision is in authority of the City.
The attitude of the heritage department is that the position of the tower antenna located on the west bastion is inappropriate and that it has to be relocated. It’s a known fact that beside of the tower antenna there are also several other objects on the west bastion build on the location of the old guardhouse and those other objects are build illegally. It is also clear that they are used without any legal basis. We respect all laws and we expect that all others respect them as well. For that reason, the expense of relocating that activity elsewhere must be charged to the responsible ones for this situation.
What is the position of Razvoj golf regarding the statement of several councilmen that the legal terms for the annulment of the Concession contract have been met?
I wish that the fort Imperial was already reconstructed and that the citizens of Dubrovnik can come to the Srđ and have a cup of coffee on the terrace with the most beautiful view in the world and that the tourists can visit the Homeland war museum knowing that it is the best museum in the City. Today thousands of tourist arriving with cable car on Srđ sees the fort in inappropriate condition. That is the reason why only a small number of them visit the fort and the Museum.
We are a valid concessionaire, who invests in the fort from the beginning, and the reconstruction of the fort was not possible before the declaring UPU. Regardless, from 2009. till today we invested considerable sum in the maintenance of the Fort and its surroundings and we sponsored the temporary exhibition of the Homeland war by reconstructing its current location.
The Concession contract is very detail in terms of contract termination and for me as a lawyer is very unprofessional to discuss that in the manner that it was presented on the City Council. UPU and GUP of the City of Dubrovnik determine the exact purpose of the fort Imperial and that purpose is written in the Concession contract, contrary to the statements of the group of councilmen. The main goal of those councilmen is to stop the project even at the cost of trial loss. The argument for the unilateral termination does not exists, the concessionaire carries out the obligations from the contract in good faith, but unfortunately the concessionaire cannot influence on the needed time for authorities to issue approvals. The paradox is that the City of Dubrovnik charges the contractual penalty to the concessionaire by which it expresses the will to fulfill the Contract , and on the other side that institution is late with fulfilling its contractual obligations while at the same time they want the unilateral termination of the contract without any merits.
Maja Rilović Koprivec
Source: Dubrovački vjesnik, 04.09.2015.
http://dubrovacki.hr/clanak/77872/braniteljima-se-manipulira-preko-muzeja-domovinskog-rata
