Home addresses of NIP leader: He sees tourists, but not the garbage that has buried Sarajevo's streets

The Government of Sarajevo Canton, composed of the parties of the Troika (SDP, NIP, Our Party), has for years failed to establish order in the utility sector, especially regarding municipal cleanliness.

Even we journalists find it hard to remember the names of all the ministers who have changed over the past few years, because this position was a "hot potato" that none of the Troika parties particularly fought for.

As many ministers of communal economy have changed, so have the directors of KJKP Rad. The longest-serving were the cadres of the People and Justice party.

In his home video analyses, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina and leader of NIP, Elmedin Konaković, regularly reports to the public on the "successes" of the Troika. Thus, in his Sunday address, the turn came to the Tourist Association of Sarajevo Canton. Konaković took credit for its return under the auspices of the KS Assembly, boasted about tourist visits to Sarajevo, fees paid, transfers to economic entities, and events that are mostly "coincidentally" linked to the ruling parties. Konaković did not want to spoil his video with examples that deter tourists from returning to Sarajevo.

Pickpockets and robberies of tourists, a non-existent pedestrian path from Sarajevo International Airport to the first public transport stop if they do not want to wait for the bus that runs from the Airport to Bentbaša, garbage at every step, unmown grass, poor hygiene of public transport...

I do not know whether the minister read this morning the information that the police brought workers to mow the area of the Vraca Memorial Complex in an attempt to find a discarded pistol after yesterday's shooting, while for days citizens have been warning on social media about tall grass around schools and the appearance of snakes.

We have published multiple times what scenes greet residents of the Dobrinja neighborhood on Monday mornings. Today was no different. Overflowing containers with large amounts of waste in and around them stood until noon, when workers from KJKP Rad emptied the containers, but bulk waste remained.

Given the high temperatures and the fact that spring deratization has not yet been carried out, the appearance of rodents and a new epidemic of leptospirosis cannot be ruled out. Let us recall that the highest number of leptospirosis cases was recorded in the area of Novi Grad and Dobrinja, one of the most populous neighborhoods in Sarajevo. These scenes are also witnessed by the current director of KJKP Rad, who lives in this neighborhood.

The bulky waste collection campaign carried out in April was apparently insufficient for the number of residents in Sarajevo, nor are additional containers and bells for waste disposal being placed, which, given the growth of housing infrastructure, is clearly necessary. It is true that workers of KJKP Rad also face examples of illegal dumps, that construction waste is disposed of in containers, but the Troika has not formed the long-announced Municipal Police even after two mandates.

For the Sarajevo authorities, a new epidemic is apparently not a cause for concern, as much as positioning for the upcoming General Elections. The absence of earlier mandatory deratizations and the outbreak of leptospirosis are subject to checks by the KS Prosecutor's Office. It remains to be hoped that the appeals process will be concluded as soon as possible so that the Ministry of Health can make the necessary decisions and carry out spring deratization.

To Konaković's dismay, tourists are (after all) not voters; rather, it is those who live and work here and face everyday problems of garbage, lack of parking, poor hygiene, a compromised security situation, and consequently a diminished quality of life in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina...