Konaković's Call for Uk to Increase Subsidies Goes Unanswered: 5 Million KM Created for Utility Company in a Minute, but No Ear for the Youth!

Written by: A. Vrabac

When on Monday evening on social networks, the president of NIP and head of BiH diplomacy and informal head of processes in Sarajevo Canton, Elmedin Konaković, criticized the Government of Sarajevo Canton because it plans to pay the lowest subsidies for apartment purchases for young people since this project began, and called on the Government to find additional funds, an unusual silence ensued. His call remained without a public response from the Government of Sarajevo Canton.

The cantonal Prime Minister Nihad Uk (Our Party) has not responded for two days to Patria's inquiry regarding additional funds to increase the promised subsidies for young people. No one responds to the official emails to which we sent the inquiry from the Government of Sarajevo Canton.

The Minister of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton, Admir Katica (NIP), also did not respond to Patria's inquiry about whether the Government of Sarajevo Canton considered the possibility of additional funds for subsidies and whether it discussed the call addressed to them by Konaković.

When in March last year, at the first session of the then Government of Sarajevo Canton, a parliamentary cadre of NIP, placed a request before the Minister of Communal Economy, Almir Bečarević, to increase water prices for citizens because the utility company has losses, and the minister refused even at the cost of resignation, several ministers "saved" the situation by reallocating funds from their departments to the utility company. These days, the story about increasing water prices is active again, and in recent years, hundreds of millions of marks have been pumped into communal economy companies.

Therefore, the persistence of the Government of Sarajevo Canton, which refuses to find additional funds and repair the damage caused by this public call, is surprising. Although it is a record number of applicants who have qualified for the subsidy, the Government of Sarajevo Canton remained "nailed" to 5.5 million KM. And just at that mentioned session from March 2023, within a few minutes, five million KM was secured for the utility company.

If we look at the Budget of Sarajevo Canton for 2024, it is evident that multi-million amounts are planned for the procurement of helicopters for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Sarajevo Canton. One million KM is planned for the establishment of a helicopter unit, and 2 million KM for the construction of a hangar. This is one of the most expensive projects from which the Government of Sarajevo Canton does not back down, even though costs are rising year after year.

If young people were paid an amount of 7,000 KM each, as was paid in 2020, an additional 2.5 million KM would need to be added to the planned 5.5 million KM.

This situation with deceived young applicants cannot pass without consequences for the political parties leading Sarajevo Canton, namely NIP, SDP BiH, Our Party, and For New Generations. All these parties have dealt with young people and their retention, even their return to BiH, in their programs, but the practice these days has shown something completely different.

These young people cannot be blamed for the fact that the Government of Sarajevo Canton did not heed the warnings of the former minister that there would not be enough money for all applicants. That is precisely why they have the right to demand what was promised to them without any discrimination, because this is not a social program as some cadres of the ruling parties try to present it, nor should they endure insults from any politician.