Demining: Osmanović Tries to Convince Donors They Have Tackled Corruption

Minister of Civil Affairs of BiH Adil Osmanović emphasized that today's meeting of the Donor Board is proof of a new approach and an indicator of establishing stronger cooperation and coordination of actions between representatives of the international community and domestic institutions in the demining process, reports the Patria News Agency.

He warned that there are still 9,154 suspicious microlocations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which are estimated to contain more than 120,000 mines.
- Removing leftover mines is a huge task that requires significant financial resources and efforts, but it is up to us to speed up these activities, said Minister Osmanović, emphasizing that the demining strategy plan for the period 2009-2015 was realized at only about 50 percent.

Members of the Donor Board were informed that a new structure of the Demining Commission has been established, and work is underway to establish a new management structure at the Mine Action Centre in BiH. Activities on revising the Demining Strategy are also ongoing, while the draft Law on Mine Action in Bosnia and Herzegovina is in the consultation phase.

Members of the Board welcomed the activities undertaken to improve the situation in the field of demining, particularly emphasizing the significance of the fact that the Ministry of Civil Affairs has provided funds of KM 100,000 as the participation of the BiH Institutions' budget in the implementation of mine action in 2016, according to the relevant ministry.

The Council of Ministers of BiH developed a medium-term mine clearance program, but its part relating to the period from 2009 to 2015 is only half realized, and the main reason for this are problems in the functioning of the MAC, whose long-time director Dušan Gavran was first arrested and charged with corruption, and then dismissed.

All of this also caused hesitation among donors, whom the current composition of the Council of Ministers of BiH is trying to convince that the problems have been resolved and that the new MAC management will handle the funds intended for demining in a transparent and legal manner.