Union does not trust the Council of Ministers of BiH, refuses to give 8 million KM for flood-affected areas

The Council of Ministers of BiH today removed from the agenda a point that was supposed to discuss redirecting the holiday allowance of public sector employees to a fund for areas affected by floods in BiH, reports the Patria news agency.

According to rough estimates, the value is between 7.5 and 8.4 million convertible marks, which the Council of Ministers of BiH planned to allocate for the reconstruction of areas affected by the floods that hit our country last month.

However, due to the pressure that union representatives have been constantly directing towards state institutions in recent days, this point was not even discussed at the Council today.

Jure Bilić, president of the Independent Unions of State and Police Officers and Employees in Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the judiciary, and Public Institutions of BiH, told Patria that they might allow that money to go to the flood-affected areas if they were sure it would end up where it is truly needed. However, he says the union doubts the sincerity of politicians.

- Our general stance, as a union, is that we will agree to have deductions from our salaries for a whole year for the flood-affected areas, but we want to see that something is built with that money. We do not give money blindly. Because, taught by past experiences, we are sure that someone would manipulate that money if it were given in the way proposed – said Bilić.

He adds that between 25,000 and 28,000 employees work in state and police services and in institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the judiciary, and Public Institutions of BiH. Considering that their holiday allowance amounts to 300 KM, it is clear that this is millions of money which, in his opinion, someone wants to misuse.

- Given that elections are approaching, I rightly suspect that most of that money would go to the pre-election campaigns of many political parties. We cannot allow that – said Bilić for Patria.