Dobrinja Residents Appeal: We Want Parking Attendants and Better Lighting

Residents of the Sarajevo neighborhood Dobrinja have been asking local authorities for months to solve the problem of several unguarded parking lots and thus try to protect citizens' property from frequent thefts, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria.

In Dobrinja 3 and 5 alone, there are three parking lots that have no attendant and are not adequately lit. Given that expensive and newer cars are stolen almost daily, citizens are demanding an urgent response. Incidentally, this neighborhood is one of the most populous in Sarajevo, as well as in the municipality of Novi Grad itself.

- We demand that attendants be introduced to the parking lots. Anyone who has money for a car and fuel will also have money to pay for a parking space. Simply put, we can no longer live in fear of thieves - says one driver whose car thieves attempted to steal.

On the other hand, there are those who are against paid parking because it is a space for all citizens, so there is no reason to charge for it. This argument would hold water if the situation with car thefts were not alarming, and citizens were not exposed to constant fear of whether their vehicle will be the next target of thieves.

Since the beginning of November, one of the parking lots that had attendants for over a decade has been left without supervision. Allegedly, citizens wrote a petition because they cannot park due to those who already use and pay for parking spaces, while the police write them daily fines for parking on the street.

Now that they got what they wanted, the parking lot stands half-empty. Only the bravest now leave their cars there, while others have decided to look for a spot in other guarded parking lots.

There is no official position from the competent Novi Grad Municipality on whether their company Lokom will take over the management of these parking lots.