Solak: No One Went on Vacation, but I Wonder if We Can Cope with These Problems

The state, i.e. its officials, are on collective annual leave next month, while over 1,000 civil protection employees will not go on vacation this year, writes the Patria news agency.

This information was confirmed to NAP by Fahrudin Solak, director of the Federal Administration of Civil Protection (FUCZ), stating that at this moment, torrents that cannot be drained through existing channels, as was done before, are causing major problems.

- The channels are so full that they cannot accommodate new torrential waters. Even what we cleaned has become clogged again, so we are facing enormous problems. No one has taken annual leave; people only took a day off to possibly take their families to the seaside – says Solak.

He further explains that people are giving their last ounce of strength in all of this.

- Even the most ordinary rain of two to three hours causes us problems. On Saturday, we were in Željezno Polje, where rain caused a huge problem. Everything we had cleaned in previous months, the new rain stirred up and brought material that was not in the riverbed, but came from landslides and filled the riverbed level. Then the water created an improvised bed for itself, and we started cleaning and widening the road on the M-17. And since we didn't finish, new deposits have now buried even what we had done – says Solak.

Even on the temporary roadway that had been built, the pipes were destroyed, and part was washed away by the water, so the invested funds and time went down the drain with the water.

- What kind of autumn awaits us. If we got this in August when there is no rainfall, what will happen to us in October. Now we definitely have to enter a project for the urgent construction of beds for small streams, because the big rivers are what they are and they will be worked on, but we must give priority to these torrential small drains and streams, which cause interruptions in traffic to villages and settlements – explains Solak.

Speaking about how civil protection members have been doing Sisyphus's work since May, Solak wonders if it is even possible to cope with these problems.

- We clean, the water brings deposits from the mountains again. This is an incredibly large job. Now we have to arrange the beds, and simultaneously work on the banks like the Miljacka has, to ensure that the water does not tear off pieces from the sides and carry them downstream – added Solak.