No Money Without Projects, Flood Victims Still in Collective Centers

Citizens affected by the catastrophic floods and landslides in May this year are still homeless, and winter is inexorably approaching, writes Patria.

According to official data, 45,000 homes, 120 kindergartens and schools were destroyed, and 90,000 people were displaced. International community officials are also outraged at the BiH authorities, publicly criticizing the slow and ineffective return, or rather, the reconstruction of destroyed houses. At the beginning of September, the first distribution of funds amounting to 9.6 million KM for damage repair was agreed upon, but to date, there are no concrete details on who received this money.

At the time, Nermin Nikšić, the Federal Prime Minister, explained that out of this amount, six million KM would be used for the repair of residential buildings, two million KM for emergency aid to small businesses, one million KM for infrastructure repair, while 600 thousand KM would be kept in reserve.

The Federal Fund for Aid to Disaster-Stricken Areas in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Director of this Fund, Jasmin Jaganjac, are responsible for implementing decisions and distributing funds. Thus, Jaganjac visited the Una-Sana Canton yesterday and spoke with the cantonal Prime Minister Hamdija Lipovača (SDP) about the realization of funds to help the municipalities of Cazin, Bihać, Sanski Most, and Ključ, as well as the future effects of the aid allocated by the Federal Fund.

In the next few days, a decision regarding aid for 150 entrepreneurs in the Una-Sana Canton who are not in the VAT system should be implemented, and in that case, the Canton will be responsible for monitoring the allocated funds to ensure they are used transparently.

As part of the implementation of the decisions of the Steering Board of the Federal Fund, Jaganjac visited the Tuzla and Posavina Cantons last week, and plans to visit the Zenica-Doboj and Central Bosnia Cantons by the end of this month to see for himself the process of implementing funds from the Fund allocated to cantons and municipalities.
On the other hand, as confirmed by Zlatko Lagumdžija, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, not a single mark from the funds collected at the donor conference has been paid into the accounts of BiH institutions.

Information has been requested on how it is possible (through which foreign organizations) to speed up the entire reconstruction process in the parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina affected by the disaster.

It is certain that no one will provide money without concrete reconstruction projects, and local communities are clearly not ready to meet this task, as in some municipalities, the exact number of those in need of assistance is still unknown.

Meanwhile, people in school halls and collective centers are facing winter with uncertainty, while politicians are preoccupied with the General Elections and their campaigns.