Work is in full swing on the construction of a nursery in Brestovac, a project with a total value exceeding €2.5 million. Brestovac is the last municipality in Požega-Slavonia without a preschool, so its opening will finally ensure that every local unit has a nursery.
According to local official Zdravko Mandić, the construction works themselves are valued at €2.17 million, while the equipment of the facility, for which a supplier was recently selected, is estimated at an additional €400,000.
A significant portion of the funding comes from external sources: €760,000 from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, €800,000 from the Ministry of Science and Education, and €60,000 from the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds for equipment. The remaining €1 million will be covered by the municipality of Brestovac from its own budget.
The establishment of the nursery as an institution is proceeding in parallel with the construction. Mandić expects that everything will be ready by the end of the year, with children potentially starting at the nursery immediately after the project is completed.
The county governor, Antonia Jožić, visited the construction site. The Brestovac nursery is the eleventh of 14 nurseries in the county for which funding has been approved in recent years through government programmes. The renovation of the kindergarten in Rudinska Street in Požega is also ongoing, with work on new nurseries in Trešnjevac and another in Požega expected to begin this year.
Despite the investments, the county governor warned that the shortage of places will not disappear overnight. "I am afraid that the waiting lists will not disappear completely," said Jožić, noting that while some areas have seen the lists clear after the admissions process, there is confidence that funding for new nurseries will continue to be available.
