Interests of a third entity an obstacle to the "Lily" monument on Ivan Sedlo: Between fighters and money, KS authorities chose profit!

By Rasim Belko

The authorities in the Canton of Sarajevo, as we have already written, had no problem granting about 150 dunums of state land under an illegal concession for the construction of a wind farm on Ivan Sedlo.

But for these same authorities in the Canton of Sarajevo, it is a problem to approve about 200 square meters of land, which does not require rezoning, for the construction of the monument "Lily of Bosnia and Herzegovina". This is a project supported by more than 30 veteran associations of the defensive-liberation war, as well as institutions that preserve the national liberation and anti-fascist achievements from World War II.

However, as the vice-president of the Organizational Committee for the construction of the monument and the president of the Assembly of the Patriotic League of BiH, Esad Muhibić, tells Patria, wherever they go, they encounter either closed doors or various forms of obstruction.

The construction of the monument, Muhibić says, has been supported by the municipalities of Konjic and Hadžići. But, he adds, when it comes to completing or speeding up the administrative part of the work, Hadžići are a bit slow, and communication with the cantonal authorities in Sarajevo is particularly difficult and slow.

He points out that they have visited all the relevant addresses necessary for issuing approvals and permits for this project, and everyone assures them that they are on their side, but the problems never seem to get resolved.

Muhibić says they received verbal support from the Minister of Economy of KS, Zlatko Mijatović, but unfortunately, it all remained at that. Because the key institutions within the scope of the Ministry of Economy are obstructing their intentions to build the monumental complex "Lily".

Muhibić pointed this out to Minister Mijatović in a letter he sent him, asking for support due to the ignorant attitude of the Cantonal Enterprise "Sarajevo-šume", which either promises and lies or refuses to meet with the representatives of the Organizational Committee.

Similarly, patriots from the Hadžići-Konjic region claim, there is a lack of understanding at the Institute for Construction and Planning of KS, which also refuses cooperation and resolution of the issues.

It all comes down to, Muhibić tells us, "you're missing one paper" or "it's not the right paper, you need another one", and in essence, as he tells Patria, the reason is simple - there is some higher interest in not allowing the construction of this monument, because it is obvious that it bothers those who have a vested interest in Ivan Sedlo, the story about the "Lily" monument.

The only support, claim the Organizational Committee, they received was from the Memorial Center of KS and its director, Ahmed Kulanić, who promised to engage fully in the realization of this project.

However, representatives of the Organizational Committee for the construction of the "Lily" monument on Ivan Sedlo suspect that the obstruction of the project is not a result of poor work or misunderstanding, but a consequence of higher interests.

They tell us that a hotel on Igman received almost 39,000 square meters of land for its use in the last days of last year, and yet, 200 square meters for a monument is a problem.

They also add that interest-based structures, as well as structures connected with the preservation of the "Herceg-Bosna" project, could be behind all of this. They visited wind farms in BiH, and nowhere was it done like at the Ivan Sedlo wind farm, which coincides with the "path of salvation of HZHB", and the access roads were built like highways and practically connected the territory of the envisioned third entity. Therefore, they ask, is the third entity an obstacle to the Lily monument on Ivan Sedlo, and where does the authority in the Canton of Sarajevo fit into this? Because, the projects on Ivan Sedlo are the envisioned border of the third entity advocated and worked on by Croatian politics in BiH.

They add that, according to their information, the entire story surrounding the Ivan Sedlo wind farm is being investigated by the European Union Prosecutor's Office, as money from European funds has allegedly been mixed with money of dubious origin in this story.

They state that they will not give up, regardless of everything, but that the situation must ultimately be clarified and the dilemma resolved: whether the Canton of Sarajevo, due to financial interests and the interests of the followers of the so-called HZHB, is preventing more than 30 organizations from building the "Lily" monument on Ivan Sedlo.