KS Assembly: There is water, but the human factor is to blame

Sarajevo Canton Prime Minister Elmedin Konaković stated at the beginning of the extraordinary session of the KS Assembly, which discusses the state of water supply in Sarajevo Canton and measures to resolve the problem, that not a single step forward has been made in water supply, reports the Patria agency.

Konaković emphasized that none of the new members of the ViK Supervisory Board are his close friends, and that they are professional people with experience in this field.

He also added that the KS Government gave 12 million KM to ViK, and that he regrets that money because nothing concrete was done with it. Konaković complained that he received falsified reports from ViK, and stated that ViK bought cars for the company's needs. The main problem in water supply is the human factor, as water is currently leaking in as many as 978 places in Sarajevo Canton.

Deputies asked why the director of ViK, Nezir Hadžić, was not present at the session, and he, through SDA deputy Sabahudin Delalić, said that he did not come because he was not given the opportunity to address the Assembly at the last session when the ViK Assembly was dismissed.

Mersiha Mehmedagić stated that water is exploited from 19 sources, while citizens have dry pipes.

- What is exploited does not fill the budget, nor does it bring any benefit. In what way do we protect what we have outside the VIK system, which we will have to rely on tomorrow.

She raised the question of concessions and that those who use water should pay what they owe, not some unrealistic price.

To the question of deputy Mario Vukasović about why the names of large illegal consumers are being hidden, Prime Minister Konaković said that he would provide the names to the deputies. He also said that several cantonal companies owe Vodovod, including ZOI'84, which owes about 100,000 KM.

Slaviša Šućur (SDP BiH) said that he fears that the problem has not been identified, and therefore a solution cannot be approached.

- No one disputes the effort invested by the Government and the Prime Minister to determine what is happening. Negative personnel policy, which has driven away capable people, is a consequence of bad policy. The water supply problem is only part of the problem of a completely chaotic infrastructure situation. There is no infrastructure that follows construction, and we are trying to catch up with something that cannot be caught up with. Prime Minister, you looked into a director's computer and saw the problem, but not the forest. We have two problems: we don't have water where it should be, and the second is ViK's finances.

Šućur said that it is impossible for the budget to cover the losses of cantonal companies, and that the European Union does not even recognize this, and we aspire to be a candidate.

- To reduce costs to an acceptable level, studies say that 270 million KM needs to be invested. How can we do this without loans?

Minister of Communal Economy Senad Hasanspahić said that Sarajevo does not have technical water and that streets are mostly washed with drinking water. He also added that the Butila water treatment plant, worth 50 million marks, is only used 35 to 40 percent, meaning it only purifies 35 percent of wastewater.

- What about companies that pay for only 10 liters of water but use 30? What about the company Bags Elektrotehnika from Vogošća, which owes 4 million marks for water concession, and the Government is still paying it additional money? What about the public company that owes 200,000 KM for concession, and we regularly pay it subsidies? - asked independent deputy Mersiha Mehmedagić.

Naša stranka deputy Sabina Ćudić pointed out that the current management of ViK was appointed by this Government, and asked why the impression is being created that new appointments would be non-partisan.

Naša stranka deputy Peđa Kojović told Prime Minister Konaković that the citizens of Sarajevo Canton are hostages of internal party struggles within SDA, and that today's extraordinary session was convened for Konaković to gain political points by criticizing the party that appointed him prime minister.

SDP deputy Segmedina Srna Bajramović said that the deputies received the materials late and that no one could seriously prepare for today's session.

Before the start of the session, members of the Eko akcija Association, initiators of the extraordinary session of the KS Assembly, and representatives of veterans gathered in front of the building, in front of the FBiH Government.

During the previous two weeks, campaign organizers and the population of Sarajevo, exclusively through volunteer work and voluntary contributions from participants, collected over 5,000 signatures, thereby exerting very concrete political pressure on the authorities to address water restrictions and the collapse of the entire water supply system with a satisfactory degree of responsibility and seriousness.

- Through this act of self-organization and collective action, the population of Sarajevo has sent a clear message to the authorities that there can be no division of blame for the catastrophic situation in this case. The residents of the city have contributed to solving the problem, to the extent that the restrictive procedures of this canton allow them at all. Those who have the means and jurisdiction must intervene decisively and urgently, i.e., the cantonal Assembly and Government - stated Eko akcija.