Hadžibajrić reacts to the Mayor's announcement about including Sarajevo on the World Heritage List

Regarding the recent announcement by the Mayor of Sarajevo, Abdulah Skaka, about forming a working group at the City Administration level to work on fulfilling all necessary prerequisites for including Sarajevo on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and cooperating with the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments of BiH and the State Commission for Cooperation on this matter, the Mayor of the Old Town Municipality, Ibrahim Hadžibajrić, has responded, reports the Patria News Agency.

In an open letter addressed to Mayor Skaka, Hadžibajrić points out the necessity of including the Old Town Municipality in this process, both due to legal regulations and the fact that there are 68 national monuments located within this municipality.

- The entities that are statutorily protected and define the historical urban landscape of Sarajevo are located within the Old Town Municipality, and they can be subject to consideration for nomination to the World Heritage List, and you have not even asked for the opinion of the Old Town Municipality - the letter states, among other things.

- I have nothing against establishing a team to work on realizing this idea, but I am against bypassing this local community on such important issues, and we will not allow it. We have the example of Tašlihan, where all our competencies were taken away and where we were placed in a situation where we could not prevent the adoption of unrealistic decisions, and we will not allow that to happen again - said Hadžibajrić.

He also recalled the previously adopted act of the City of Sarajevo on the construction of new facilities and the repurposing of the White Fortress area, and questioned how the Mayor then announces interventions that are entirely contrary to the provisions of the decision of the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments and the practices advocated by the World Heritage Centre.

- Bearing the above in mind, I ask whether we should understand from the pompous announcement about initiating the inscription of the Sarajevo urban area on the World Heritage List that you believe Sarajevo can be inscribed on the World Heritage List without the White Fortress, without Tašlihan and Gazi Husrev-beg's cellar, and perhaps even without the Baščaršija and its neighborhoods - the letter states.

Finally, Hadžibajrić states that he expects the Mayor and the Commission for the Preservation of National Monuments to consider, in all future activities directly or indirectly related to the heritage in the area of the Old Town Municipality, that the Old Town Municipality is an indispensable factor in their shaping.