Fund for Assistance: 6 million KM for housing reconstruction, 3 million for economy and infrastructure

A joint meeting of the Steering Board and Council of the Federal Fund for Assistance to Disaster-Stricken Areas in the Federation of BiH was held at the headquarters of the Government of the Federation of BiH in Sarajevo, attended by representatives of the Federal Civil Protection Administration, the Federal Institute of Geology, the Sava River Water Management Agency, and the mayors of municipalities that suffered the greatest damage from floods and landslides - Zenica, Tuzla, Domaljevac-Šamac, Gračanica, Gradačac, Srebrenik, Lukavac, Žepče, Maglaj, Zavidovići, Kalesija, Orašje, Odžak, Sapna, and Banovići, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

The goal of the meeting, attended by a delegation from UNDP in BiH, led by Resident Representative in BiH Yuri Afanasiev, and Head of Cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union in BiH Melvin Asin, was to coordinate and cooperate on housing reconstruction. According to the introductory remarks by the Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH and President of the Fund's Steering Board Nermin Nikšić, this is a priority task, without neglecting other damages caused by this year's natural disasters.

Prime Minister Nikšić informed the attendees about the activities of the Government of the Federation of BiH in repairing the damage. This includes adopting a set of laws regulating the collection and distribution of aid, and establishing the necessary institutional framework for transparent collection and spending of funds.

The Prime Minister also emphasized that the Federal Government, through two rebalances of this year's FBiH Budget, allocations from the "Current Reserve of the Government of the Federation," and other decisions, has already provided and sent aid worth 100,000,000 convertible marks to affected areas.

At the beginning of today's meeting, representatives of the Federal Institute of Geology and the Sava River Water Management Agency informed participants about past and planned activities, and proposed measures to be taken to repair damage and establish systematic flood protection.

Following this, a meeting of the members of the Steering Board and Council of the Federal Fund for Assistance to Disaster-Stricken Areas in the Federation of BiH was held, where criteria for awarding aid were specified, and the amounts to be transferred from the Fund's accounts to affected municipalities were determined from the total of 9.6 million convertible marks collected so far. Distribution standards set by the Council of Ministers of BiH were used.

Of the total amount, 6,000,000 KM is intended for housing reconstruction, 2,000,000 KM as assistance to the economy affected by the natural disaster, and 1,000,000 KM for the reconstruction of infrastructure facilities. The remaining 600,000 KM represents reserve funds for emergency intervention.

Nermin Nikšić, Prime Minister of the FBiH, stated that the funds will be operational by next Monday or Tuesday, when they will be disbursed to the Posavina, Zenica-Doboj, and Tuzla Cantons.