VIOLATION OF THE HIGH REPRESENTATIVE'S DECISION City authorities in Mostar plan to demolish 57 buildings, including national monuments

(Patria) - City authorities in Mostar announced a week ago the demolition of dozens of dilapidated and devastated buildings in the city on the Neretva River. The list of 57 buildings slated for demolition has sparked numerous discussions and debates, considering that neither the wider public nor experts have been involved in this issue.

It is particularly problematic that the list includes buildings whose reconstruction is planned or has already begun, as well as those that are protected cultural monuments or even national monuments. Among them are the house of the former mayor of Mostar, Mujaga Komadina, the Clock Tower, the Glass Bank, the Home of the Army, the girls' school...

The controversial list of 57 buildings slated for demolition

Member of the Democratic Front (DF) in the FBiH Parliament, Sanel Kajan, says it has long been time for Mostar to stop bearing the burden of the most devastated city in the country.

In an interview with the Patria News Agency, he points out that it is unacceptable that even today, in 2024, and in all the years past, ruins from the war still dominate the main and numerous other streets and settlements in the city on the Neretva.

Kajan: Lack of coordination and good preparation is evident

- The City Administration should have made this issue a priority and acted in a timely manner. Doesn't the fact that we are still talking today about the problem of ruins in Mostar resulting from the war that ended almost 30 years ago say enough? - Kajan asked.

He emphasizes that the ruins, which the eastern part of Mostar is full of, have been collapsing on its residents for years. Kajan reminds that two years ago, a man died when a wall of one of the numerous ruins collapsed. A similar tragedy occurred a few years earlier.

- When we (my generation) were children, our parents warned us: "Child, please, be careful of the ruins!" Today, almost 30 years after the end of the war, we still warn our children and send them to school with the words: "Please, be careful of the ruins!" - Kajan emphasizes.

Building of the former Municipality of Mostar

Our interlocutor notes that Mostar, or more precisely its eastern part, looks today as if the war ended 6 months ago.

- Desperate citizens have been begging the authorities for years to remove and repair the ruins. The ownership structure of all these dilapidated buildings is known. Action should have been taken long ago to either renovate them or remove them.

When we walk through the streets (of the eastern part) of Mostar, we fear daily that the ruins, of which there are hundreds on the left side of the city, will collapse on us.

So we have two options - either walk on the sidewalk, and above our heads are dilapidated walls from which stones are falling, or walk in the street and risk being hit by a car - says Kajan.

Main street in Mostar: Movement on sidewalks is impossible in many places, as Mostar authorities have placed construction iron, disregarding any safety regulations for them

The peak of today's authorities, he adds, is to fence off the ruins in the eastern city quarters with iron construction mesh. And this has been the case for over two decades.

- In recent days, we have witnessed the City Administration of Mostar announce that it will demolish 57 buildings. However, to make the situation absurd, the list also includes buildings that are under renovation, as well as buildings owned by the FBiH.

Lack of coordination and good preparation is evident. As an example, I cite the Glass Bank building in Mostar, which was built over 30 years ago but has never been put into operation. This is a building that was on the demolition list published by the City Administration of Mostar - explains Kajan.

One of the many ruins: Mostar authorities have even made it difficult to measure electricity consumption, as they have "enclosed" the electrical box with an inadequate fence

The Glass Bank building, he adds, was purchased by the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2017. There is a renovation project, but the renovation has not started because the Government accepted budget amendments last year that transfer funds intended for the renovation of the Glass Bank in Mostar to another purpose.

The goal of renovating the building was to house FBiH institutions and ministries under one roof, which are currently scattered in several locations in Mostar, thereby saving about KM 750,000 annually, according to information at the time. Today, that figure is significantly higher.

- Why is the renovation of this building not being carried out and the plan to accommodate the ministries of the Federation of BiH in one building not being finalized? Instead, this building, as informed by the City Administration of Mostar, is on the demolition list.

Building of the former Vocational School in Mostar: Unrenovated to this day

Has the City Administration of Mostar contacted other levels of government?! How is it possible that this building is on the demolition list?! How is it possible that national monuments are also on the demolition list?!

It is absolutely necessary to solve the problem of ruins in Mostar. It should have been done long ago. But, systematically, in coordination with the owners (which, I repeat, should have been done long ago) - concludes Kajan.

House on Kalhanska Street

Let us also note that the demolition of buildings such as the Home of the Army is actually a violation of the High Representative's Decision prohibiting the disposal of state property.

Regarding the announcement of the demolition of this building, for which the Mostar Unified Veterans Organization had previously initiated activities to reconstruct it as a memorial center for preserving the memory of the heroic defense of Mostar and the homeland, the Association of Citizens Mostarski Krug reacted.

Residential and commercial building on the road to Konak: Shelling and burned in 1992, still awaiting renovation

"Does it need to be specially emphasized that the project documentation for this building has already been prepared, and in the meantime, support for its implementation has arrived from the very top of the Federal government?

If the Home of the Army building is planned for demolition, then the city authorities have no idea what they are doing, planning, and what is the primary, important interest of the Mostar veteran population. And that is certainly not the right path," said activists from Mostarski Krug.