Durak: Ilijaš needs new jobs, childbearing subsidies, and tourists from the entire region

Independent candidate for the mayor of Ilijaš municipality, Enes Durak, believes that Ilijaš has all the prerequisites to become the economic center of Sarajevo Canton. 

Simply put, Durak says in an interview with the Patria news agency, he doesn't understand how a town can be economically underdeveloped if a highway and a railway line pass through it.

Durak was born in 1964 near Vareš, and grew up in Ilijaš. He is the first recipient of the Police Medal for Bravery during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and one of the 12 living recipients of this wartime award. The 126th Brigade, which he commanded during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, received the MUP flag, the highest wartime award a unit can receive. He says that he fought honorably and honestly for Bosnia and Herzegovina during and after the war.

In the elections on October 2nd, he ran for mayor of Ilijaš as an independent candidate, but received the support of the SDP, DF, and BPS.

Patria: Voter turnout in Ilijaš in the General Elections two years ago was around 55 percent. Slightly less than 11,000 voters cast their ballots. Therefore, almost half of the population in Ilijaš who have the right to vote did not go to the polls because they did not trust any political option. Do you think that these 45 percent of people in Ilijaš could now wake up and give their support to you, as an independent candidate?

Durak: Elections are a democratic way for citizens to force changes in society. And they should use that right. Therefore, citizens directly promote society with their vote, participate in reforms, help progress, stop crime... 
The residents of Ilijaš were not offered an adequate program to improve life in Ilijaš before, they clearly saw that, so almost half of the residents of this municipality did not even want to participate in the elections. Now that has changed. My team and I are offering them a program that will make Ilijaš the most desirable municipality in Sarajevo Canton. We will create an environment where investors will scramble to invest in Ilijaš, just as they are now scrambling to invest in some municipalities in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Therefore, we will all benefit from such an environment. 

I already see that my people from Ilijaš recognize our intentions, and I am sure they will support us in this. Therefore, citizens will be the drivers of these reforms, and we will implement these reforms in Ilijaš.

Patria: You were a successful athlete. BiH judo champion. Later, a successful commander in the Army of RBiH. Today, you successfully manage a private company. If the citizens give you their trust on October 2nd, what problems will you tackle first? What can the mayor do in the local community so that citizens quickly feel progress? People simply can't wait anymore.

Durak: Immediately after October 2nd, we will initiate the procedure for the Municipality to subsidize childbirth, because we do not want Ilijaš to become a place for the elderly. We will open up to new investors, first domestic and then foreign. It is important that we also work on consolidating veteran associations in Ilijaš. All of these are things that can be realized quickly, and from which the residents of Ilijaš will have direct benefits, and immediately. It is enough to improve the administration service in the Municipality, and tomorrow some things will proceed much faster and much easier. 

Patria: Ilijaš is one of the few towns in BiH located along the highway and railway. Some would say that these two are enough for a town to develop into an industrial center. How is it that even 20 years after the aggression against BiH, local authorities have not known how to use this. Finally, Ilijaš is located just 15 kilometers from Sarajevo, the largest consumer center in BiH.

Durak: To use resources, one must know how and want to. My team and I both know and want to. And most importantly, I am not dependent on politics, or politics from Sarajevo. Ilijaš comes first for me. Perhaps at this moment I am thinking too locally, but I do not hide it. We must first raise the standard of our citizens. We must create an environment where every resident of Ilijaš can earn money for themselves and their family in their municipality, or have assistance from the community if they are in a state where they cannot earn a living. Ilijaš has all the prerequisites to become the economic and tourist center of Sarajevo Canton and for the citizens of Ilijaš to live more comfortably. 

Patria: They say that the Slovenians built Bled, that it was not nearly as beautiful as it is now, but someone invested to create that beauty. Ilijaš has Bijambare, which are beautiful on their own. How much does the local community benefit from this natural monument? Finally, how is it possible that even some who live in Ilijaš do not know about the old town of Dubrovnik?

Durak: Bijambare, the old town of Dubrovnik, the Kopošići necropolis, and the memorial center at Vijenac for the members of the 126th Ilijaš Brigade and ARBiH must be part of Ilijaš's tourist offer. 

I will return Bijambare to the management of the Municipality of Ilijaš. 

The tourist offer in Ilijaš must be much greater than just a lunch and some fresh air. With such a perception of tourism comes new jobs, not only direct but also indirect ones. Our good fortune is that Ilijaš has huge tourist potential. Some tourists already stop in Ilijaš. But, we need to invest some time, ideas, and resources to double the number of tourists, and for them to stay longer in our municipality than they do now. This will happen in Ilijaš, and very soon.