Sabljić: No Place for Bosniaks in Public Enterprises and Municipal Administration in Čapljina

Around 4,500 Bosniaks, as many as there are today in Čapljina, mostly live off agriculture. They engage in fruit and vegetable cultivation, but this year's harvest, as well as purchase prices, have put them in a difficult situation, given that they have no other income, writes the Patria news agency.

-Bosniaks in Čapljina have no access to any public enterprise or municipal administration. Those jobs are reserved exclusively for Croats. Therefore, the only thing left for them is to engage in agriculture. Sixteen years ago, we returned to our hearths, rebuilt houses, the estates are there, but now we have a problem selling what we produce, explains Alen Sabljić, a graduate agricultural engineer, for NAP.

He was 14 years old in 1993 when he was arrested and taken to the Silos camp in Čapljina. Although a minor, he joined the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he served as a courier until the end of the war. He returned to Mostar, where he also studied, and then to his birthplace, Bivolje Brdo.

Like other Bosniaks in Čapljina, he engages in agriculture; there is no job for him. Therefore, he says, he decided to become politically active, and found himself on the SDA-SBB list for the Čapljina Municipal Council.

-There must be more of us politically active among Bosniaks, from all parties, to enter the Municipal Council and win as many seats as possible. That way, through our actions, we could improve the position of our people. We must, of course, if more of us enter the Municipal Council, exert political pressure on the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton government to invest in our area, to set up purchasing cooperatives, and then facilities for processing fruits and vegetables. A factory for juice, jams, and a dryer are urgently needed in the Čapljina area. For us, producing is not a problem, but selling is, states Sabljić.