The State as Pazarić

The address by Redžep Salić, director of the Institute for the Care of Mentally Disabled Children and Youth Pazarić, in the Federal Parliament recently echoed like a bomb, when he stated that in May of this year, upon his appointment, he found a catastrophic situation and crime in the institute.

We also learned from Salić about the illicit trade of sacrificial meat (kurban) that citizens had donated to the beneficiaries, which was allegedly sold for a million marks. Hopefully, the investigation will reveal whether this sale actually took place, but for now, it is known that as much as 40 tons of meat entered the Institute for just one Kurban Bayram. Salić's statement was followed by numerous and fierce reactions, and the media rushed to Pazarić to capture the sad scenes to which no one can remain indifferent.

However, the shock from the terrible and inhumane treatment of the Institute's beneficiaries was quickly diverted to the fact that members of the Institute's Management and Supervisory Boards in Pazarić receive over 400,000 KM from the budget for a four-year term!

Given that Salić "forgot" to mention from the parliamentary podium that he, as the director of the Institute, earned around 30,000 KM from May to September, members of the Management Board soon publicly reminded him of this. Using the saying that "the best defense is an attack," they presented a series of further accusations against Salić. Now, a kind of soap opera about who is to blame for the situation in the Institute, which constantly receives donations from good people, not only from our country but also from others, will obviously have more episodes. However, it is hard to believe that this situation will end in favor of the beneficiaries, and to the detriment of those who abused their positions in deciding their fate.

Regardless of the fact that police agencies and the judiciary have become involved in the entire story, we already know that neither the director's salary will be reduced, nor will the board members' fees be less after this scandal, even though they are already employed, mostly in public service with already huge incomes. And, until now, these expenditures have "eaten up" millions of marks of budget money that, with more rational planning, could have been spent much more usefully.

There are certainly many responsible parties for the situation in Pazarić, and the burden of this situation is even heavier and more painful because it concerns the lives of a particularly sensitive category in our society. Even Salić, who "started talking" after five months and who decided to speak out for reasons known only to him, precisely now, cannot be amnestied. Doubt and a shadow are cast on the motives and reasons for the sudden awakening of his conscience by the fact that he earns around 6,000 KM per month in that institute, and he still kept silent about it while "crying" over the fate of the beneficiaries, to whose savior he proclaimed himself.

Adding to this the information that Salić allegedly allowed himself numerous other benefits, such as an open account at the expense of the budget in a cafe, using the official car for private purposes, etc., proves that among those who decide on the fate of children and youth in Pazarić, there are no innocents and no morals. Unfortunately, the situation in the Pazarić Institute is a mirror reflection of the situation in almost all public institutions and enterprises in BiH.

Regardless of the fact that they are paid from our pockets, they have long since become party firms for accommodating their mostly suitable, not capable, cadres, which is why citizens suffer the most as users of the services of these institutions or enterprises. For a long time, most citizens of this country have met the fate of the beneficiaries of the Pazarić Institute, so wherever we go, we are met with "there is none," "they cannot," "they will not," "bring," "take," "buy," "wait"...

Whether we go to any health, educational, or cultural institution, or seek a higher quality service from any public enterprise for our money. It has been shown that the Pazarić Institute primarily exists to provide a place for some party director with an enormous salary, who chooses suitable associates for himself. And it is the same in other institutions and enterprises and funds, of which, for example, there are more than 70 in Sarajevo Canton alone, and the director of each of them has a monthly salary of at least around 3,500 KM. Along with them comes the "entourage" of members of management and supervisory boards, for whom huge amounts of money are also allocated. And this with a constant tendency for their personal incomes to grow and a simultaneous decline in the quality of services in these institutions and enterprises for citizens.

The question is what would be revealed if all these directors started talking. But, even until now, there have been talks about million-dollar abuses, initiation of investigations, few have even received a judicial epilogue. But no one has yet broken this vicious circle, this merry-go-round, where players from different parties often collide and stumble. However, regardless of their different ideological orientations, they all hold on firmly and play according to the established choreography, just like this one in Pazarić, according to which they are always "on top," and we, just like the children in the Institute, are "at the bottom."