Konaković and Šabić meet with workers of the former Tourist Board: Payment of back wages announced

Prime Minister of Sarajevo Canton Elmedin Konaković and Minister of Economy Muharem Šabić held a meeting today with 30 workers of the former Tourist Board, announcing that they will strive to secure wages for the past three months, provided that the payment procedure is precisely determined.

- After you agree on the technical procedures with your management, you need to provide us with a list with the exact amount of your monthly income, with your first and last names - emphasized Prime Minister Konaković, adding that he understands the situation these people are in.

He also stated that he cannot promise that the newly formed Tourist Board of KS will take over all employees, but that those with experience will certainly be hired.

- Upon taking office as the head of the Sarajevo Canton Government, we found a series of problems, one of which is the status of the Tourist Board, which ceased to exist by a Constitutional Court ruling. All legal acts passed were declared invalid by this ruling. An additional ruling ordered the ministries to implement it, which means that this board is being removed from the register in which it was previously registered and thus no longer exists - reminded Prime Minister Konaković on this occasion.

According to him, after the current management of the former Tourist Board failed to act in accordance with the regulations, it continues to operate as a citizens' association that collects a parafiscal levy.

- The Tourism Law, which we passed at the end of December last year, involved entering the former Tourist Board, i.e., taking over their books, archives, work resources, determining the exact number of employees and their qualifications, all with the aim of creating a new systematization. However, the old management did not allow us to do that - said Prime Minister Konaković.

As he pointed out, there are now two legal obstacles from the previous management. They filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court against the new Tourism Law, requesting a security measure, which is done in cases where illegal regulations are passed, but the court rejected it. The newly formed Tourist Board of KS could also have been registered in the court register, but another appeal is not yet complete, and if certain omissions are found there, it could send us back to the beginning or nullify its existence, as well as the status of the current acting management.

He stressed that he will no longer allow an organization to exist that transparently spends money and is not accountable for it to its founders, neither to the Assembly nor to the Canton Government. Such practices have come to an end.

Minister Šabić also informed those present that it was not possible to cooperate with the old management, and that for a letter sent in May last year, they received a response that the Sarajevo Canton Government was not competent for it, but rather the Federal Tourist Board.

- They did not respond to any of our official documents, and only in the last month has money been deposited into the account of the new Tourist Board of KS, because we also had obstructions there. We just want to work in accordance with the law - stated Minister Šabić.

Long-time tourism worker and employee of the former Tourist Board, Šejla Islamović, who spoke on behalf of the workers, thanked the Prime Minister and the Minister for their understanding and said that they had been in favor of dialogue and peaceful resolution of this issue from the beginning.

- The most important thing for us is that we will receive three back wages, and April's in May, because we all feed our families with them, and most of us have loans - said Islamović, adding that they all hope that their employment status will also be resolved soon, as they are aware of the importance of tourism development to which they can significantly contribute with their experience.