Local residents from the areas of Tisno and Murter gathered this morning for a peaceful protest at Ivinj over the issue of waste disposal. The gathering took place at the extension towards the church of St Martin, proceeding peacefully with the presence of police who secured the event.
Locals highlighted the ecological devastation of the Ivinja area and called for the protection of underground water, nature, and human health. The cause of the protest is the use of private land in the area for the disposal of various types of waste. As they point out, they have long been warning about construction waste, olive pomace, and sewage, but in recent weeks, the digging of a large pit in which waste and sewage water is being poured, according to the claims of protest organizers, has disturbed them.
Organizers are demanding that the relevant inspectorates act immediately, suspending the works in question and providing permanent protection for nature and the archaeological site at Ivinje. They warn that the continuation of such disposal could endanger the underground water, the plant and animal world, as well as the quality of life of the local population.
The police administration in Šibenik-Knin reported today that police officers of the Police Station in Vodice had conducted a criminal investigation into a 65-year-old man suspected of committing the criminal offence of endangering the environment through waste. The police filed a criminal complaint against the 65-year-old man. It is suspected that the suspect, from an unknown month in 2024 to 26 August 2026, disposed of construction waste and olive pomace directly on the ground in several places on the land in the village of Ivinje. It was also established that he disposed of waste and sewage in a hole dug in the ground on the same land, using a machine.
The construction site on agricultural land in the protected area of Makrini was closed last week by the municipal inspection of Tisno. The construction site is located about 200 metres from the new roundabout in Makrini, and was closed in September following a report to the municipal inspection by residents. The municipal inspectors closed the construction site with a sign and yellow tape, and the report was submitted immediately after the closure to the relevant inspectors of the State Inspectorate and the police station in Šibenik. No activity has taken place at the site since then. The matter concerns a construction excavation which was suspected to be a pit for the illegal disposal of olive pomace and sewage.
The named Franjo Zupčić stated that he invites all those concerned about the ecological balance, the clean environment, and the healthy flow of the Makrini and Ivinja aquifers to visit the construction site and personally verify what is happening. Zupčić insists that he has not dumped sewage there and believes he will prove his innocence, but admits that two years ago he disposed of olive pomace and construction waste at that location. After paying a fine of 600 euros, he states that he has not repeated similar actions. His assurance that he has not dumped anything that would endanger the quality of the water is backed by his drinking water from the source.
Croatian Water (Hrvatske vode) issued on 15 September 'Water Management Conditions for the construction of a dug well with a diameter of 1 m and a depth of approx. 10 m on plot no. 7319/2 in the cadastral municipality of Tisno'. Zupčić stated that it is not pleasant to be publicly persecuted and to have to defend and justify oneself before the police, the court, and various inspectorates for something one has not done. He added that it is a major intervention in which he is confident that the water is clean and will remain so, inviting all who are concerned to come and personally verify on the spot what is happening.
