Schoolchildren and students at risk of infection due to water shortages

Daily night and day water reductions are preventing Sarajevo citizens from functioning normally and meeting basic life needs. Caterers who are left without water, hairdressing salons, and schools are particularly affected by this problem...

The KS government and Prime Minister Elmedin Konaković have been unable to solve this burning issue for months, although the Assembly of KJKP Vodovod i kanalizacija was dismissed at Konaković's suggestion. However, while Konaković is busy planning the dismissal of director Nezir Hadžić, "risking his political career," Sarajevans are on alert, keeping filled bottles and canisters. They have subordinated all their obligations to the times of water reductions, writes the Patria agency.

The seriousness of the situation is shown by the fact that parents are putting bottles of water in their children's school bags. It is superfluous to even talk about the situation and hygienic conditions in school toilets in these circumstances. If the practice of daily water reductions and outages continues, Sarajevo could face infections, especially among schoolchildren. Stomach problems are already appearing among children, and doctors are internally linking them to water outages. They do not want to speak about it publicly.

The same awaits students, for whom the new academic year begins on October 7. Given the large number of students, we can only imagine the problems that daily reductions will cause in the conduct of classes and the inability to meet basic hygiene needs during their stay at faculties. 

And instead of those who declare themselves as fighters for student rights, in the person and work of the president of the Student Parliament of the University of Sarajevo, Merim Serdarević, demanding from the Government and Konaković to ensure regular water supply, their concern is whether there will be an additional September exam period. This is almost their entire contribution to the new Law on Higher Education of KS. And by remaining silent on this burning issue, SPUS shows that it is an extended arm of the cantonal government led by the prime minister.

Even when they had the opportunity to join the petition that citizens were signing, demanding that the authorities ensure the water supply of the capital city in the 21st century, SPUS did not do so. Not with any gesture. But on September 6, the president of SPUS, Serdarević, addressed the public extraordinarily, talking about students, but also giving support to the director of KCUS, Sebija Izetbegović, announcing participation in support protests for Rohingya Muslims, which they did not even attend, etc.