Municipality of Stari Grad paid 30,000 KM to the Soup Kitchen, 200 KM each to socially vulnerable

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Mayor Ibrahim Hadžibajrić handed over 10,000 KM in emergency aid funds to the Stari Grad Soup Kitchen this morning, while at the beginning of the week, through a regular grant to this institution, another 20,000 KM was paid. The total amount by which the Soup Kitchen's work has been supported and which will be used for humanitarian packages for the most vulnerable is 30,000 KM, and concurrently, cash assistance is being distributed in the field.

Teams consisting of employees of the Municipality of Stari Grad Sarajevo have been deployed since 8:00 AM this morning to thirteen local communities in this municipality to deliver cash assistance to severely vulnerable citizens living on the edge of existence.

By the decision of the Commander of the Municipal Civil Protection Staff, Mayor mr Ibrahim Hadžibajrić, this category of the population will receive 200 KM each to purchase food, medicine, and hygiene supplies, due to the state of emergency declared throughout the country due to the spread of the coronavirus.

“In the previous days, we worked on assessing the situation in the field and identifying people who are severely vulnerable, social cases. We directed assistance to those who have absolutely no income and live on the edge of existence. Our local communities know the situation on the ground and the real needs, and we were guided by that in this distribution because the most vulnerable must receive help first,” stated the commander of the staff, Mayor Hadžibajrić.

Hadžibajrić visited the Soup Kitchen this morning, where he learned about the needs of its beneficiaries and how the work is progressing from the manager, Tetka Zilhe.

“We paid the annual grant for the Soup Kitchen a few days ago in the total amount of 20,000 KM. Today, we brought another 10,000 KM from the civil protection emergency funds to help the Soup Kitchen procure necessary food items and humanitarian packages for the socially vulnerable. We will use these funds to buy humanitarian packages and distribute them to vulnerable citizens. We will strive to ensure these are quality humanitarian packages, weighing up to 19 kg, and this donation has truly pleased me. This donation makes it easier for us to help elderly people who are completely immobile and to whom we deliver food. Mayor Hadžibajrić has already paid our regular funds to the Soup Kitchen, and this is additional assistance, and we are immensely grateful for it,” said Tetka Zilha.

The distribution of cash assistance to vulnerable categories in Stari Grad began last weekend. Secretaries of local communities and other employees of the Municipality of Stari Grad are going to home addresses and delivering assistance where it is most needed, i.e., to those who have no income and are on the brink of poverty.

At the proposal of the Staff Commander mr Ibrahim Hadžibajrić, the Municipal Staff made a decision to allocate 500,000 KM for these purposes. The Service for Local Development and Local Community Affairs explained that this concerns people who have no income, have severely ill family members, cancer patients, large families, and the like. They emphasized that this is not a regular distribution of one-time aid for which citizens had previously applied to the Service for Veterans' and Disabled Veterans' Affairs and Social Protection, but rather a distribution of emergency funds for the most vulnerable, among whom there are certainly those who have never even sought help.

Payments to veterans and new mothers begin today

The Service for Veterans' and Disabled Veterans' Affairs and Social Protection of the Municipality of Stari Grad has taken on the obligation to provide cash assistance in the amount of 200 KM to demobilized veterans who have previously qualified for subsistence allowance. This applies to individuals aged 57 and older who have absolutely no income other than the social subsistence allowance.

The amount of this allowance depends on the number of months spent in the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and on average, they receive between 100-250 KM per month. Payments to this category will be made via bank transfer, and the responsible service will begin payments today.

New mothers from Stari Grad who are unemployed also fall into the category to whom funds will be paid via bank transfer, and there are 102 of them in the records of the responsible service. Payments to them will also begin today. In general, the Service for Veterans' and Disabled Veterans' Affairs and Social Protection regularly processes all received applications, so there will be no delays in regular payments to new mothers from this service.

It is important to emphasize that citizens DO NOT NEED TO COME to the Municipality and submit applications for this assistance. All municipal services are making maximum efforts to carry out this distribution in the best possible way and to ensure that assistance reaches where it is truly most needed.