Maltreatment of Vogosca citizens with heating: Should we block the main Vogosca road until the problem is resolved?

(Patria) - Citizens of Vogosca have once again sent a letter to the media, the public, and the authorities, stating that after two days of heating, their radiators are cold again as of Sunday.

"On this occasion, we draw attention to the demands we presented during the protest on Thursday, concerning access to emergency quantities of heating oil from the Sarajevo Canton Commodity Reserves. We considered the plan presented to us to be flawed from the outset, but the director of BAGS-Energotehnika assured us that the situation was resolved, that heating might only be an issue for 2 days (around December 25th), and he rudely demanded that no one interrupt him while he was speaking, threatening to leave the meeting.

The flaws in this plan became apparent the same day in the afternoon. The heating oil supplier refused to provide fuel without advance payment, and the Ministry did not foresee advance payment, but rather payment after justification of funds spent. Both the Ministry and BAGS are aware of the debt to the supplier, but they have placed all their hopes on the weak business strategy of the trader and their obviously not very brilliant negotiation skills.

The crisis lasted until late at night, and the supplier agreed to send one tanker of fuel after midnight, and we received heating on Friday during the day. For a full two days. The supplier then did not send a new tanker; we assume the problem is a lack of trust in the word and signature of the recently arrested minister Bojan Bošnjak.

At this rate of heating oil delivery, the already poor installations will be destroyed, which, even if they were in perfect condition, are not designed for two days of heating followed by two days of cooling. Such strain on the system can only lead to irreparable damage, or is that precisely the goal? To destroy any possibility of Vogosca having central heating and then to dispose of the resources that BAGS has in the water source and land?! This morning, we encountered a repair of the heating pipeline on Braće Kršo Street. And it will only get worse each time.

While the Prime Minister of the Canton Government addresses the public and citizens, persistently claiming they are ready for responsible and effective action to ensure the smooth operation of the government and the implementation of key projects for their canton, it becomes clear again that "THEIR" canton does not include the Municipality of Vogosca and its residents. We are first convinced that the problem does not exist, and then we are offered amateurish half-solutions, and our quality of life is degraded.

We call upon the new Minister of Communal Economy, Infrastructure, Spatial Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection of Sarajevo Canton, Vildana Smajović, to, unlike Prime Minister Uk and the arrested minister Bošnjak, act with more conscience, responsibility, and interest towards the problem of the citizens of Vogosca, the solution to which is now within her jurisdiction.

We also wish to state that we will refuse to pay the November bill if it amounts to anything more than zero KM.

Prime Minister Uk, the detained minister Bošnjak, the newly appointed minister Smajović, and director Džihanić are all warm. The residents of Vogosca woke up on Sunday to -4 degrees in cold apartments.

Should we organize protests at three locations? In front of the Government, the Detention Center, and BAGS? Or simply block the main Vogosca road until the problem is resolved?", ask the freezing citizens of Vogosca.