Mayor: How Dare You Ask About the Toilets

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A question about the expensive toilets angered the mayor who considers price irrelevant, but that the citizens have toilets to be important.

Even though he was surprised how two public toilets, placed at the ZET tram turning points in Dubrava and Dubec can cost 1.55 million kuna, which were constructed by Tigra, who were hired by Gredelj, Zagreb’s mayor Milan Bandic was not approachable on Wednesday.

Those are beautiful toilets, built from stainless steel. The price of one is 360,000 kuna, which means that two cost 720,000 kuna. They contain a cabin for men, for women, and a cabin for the disabled. They clean themselves and have sensors

Davor Jelavic

At a press conference for the presentation of the short low-floored trams, Zagreb’s mayor Milan Bandic verbally attacked a journalist who is from Nova TV, who wanted to ask the president of TZV’s board Antun Fabek, about the disputed toilets.

“How are you not ashamed to ask that?” asked Bandic, even though the question was not directed at him.

“You were not bothered that for 50 years there was no toilet there, but you are bothered by the price of a square meter? How much does a square meter of a Mercedes cost? More than a toilet, I tell you. Why did not somebody make this toilet before, so that we would not have to make it now? Nobody asks that” continued Bandic. In the end he added that he does not like people telling him he is complicated.

Tigra carried out construction because they were the cheapest

“When my friends, older women from Turopolje want to go to the toilet, they first need to finish an information science course. This needs to be investigated and fixed. How can they know what “push” means” said Zagreb’s mayor.

Pixsell-.--.- Because he answered instead of Fabek, after the press conference, after Bandic has left, Fabek was asked to comment the whole case.

“Those are high-tech devices which are usually installed in trains” said Fabek. He said that the company which carried out the work is owned by Bandic’s cousin.

According to his words, five companies cooperated on the project, amongst which is the disputed Tigra, which carried out construction work like connecting the toilets and city infrastructure (electricity, water…), but he denied that there was any pressure from the city government to choose that company. He stressed that Tigra was chosen because they were the cheapest.

“I sleep soundly because I am not guilty of anything. Everything was carried out according to the plans which were in the competition” concluded Fabek, who did not get the job via a competition but via direct negotiations.