Residents of Vogošća Check and Deny Pandurević's Claims: Burner is Functional, Fuel Oil Insufficient

(Patria) - Users of central heating in Vogošća were deeply disturbed yesterday by a press conference held by the Minister of Communal Economy, Infrastructure, Spatial Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection of Sarajevo Canton, Mladen Pandurević. As the information presented yesterday was in complete contradiction with earlier statements by Minister Pandurević, Prime Minister of the Sarajevo Canton Government Nihad Uk, and BAGS Director Enis Džihanić, this morning residents of Vogošća sought answers to the presented claims at BAGS Energotehnika.

Here is what they established:

1. Director Džihanić told us that last week the Canton paid 300,000 KM into BAGS's account, which BAGS, together with an additional 150,000 KM, paid to the supplier on Friday to settle half of the earlier debt. Previously, BAGS had paid another 150,000 KM to the supplier for the same debt. The Ministry verbally promised to pay an additional one million by the end of the year in installments, but an agreement on this was never made or signed.

2. The burner and boiler are fully functional. The law stipulates that after boiler overhaul, the burner is put into operation by an authorized service technician, which is done during a hot test. The authorized service technician from Slavonski Brod refused to come at the last minute, even though he has been commissioning the burner for the last 15 years. According to Džihanić, the Minister himself called him and confirmed this information. We did not find teams from Sarajevogas and Toplane Sarajevo at BAGS today. Through the Business Association of Serbian District Heating Plants, negotiations are underway with two service technicians.

3. The Minister said that the fuel tanks at BAGS are full; today we determined they are not. Unlike the previous two points, we checked this one with our own eyes. By inspecting all three tanks, we confirmed a quantity of 25 tons of fuel oil, which is only sufficient for the initial start-up of the boiler and the hot test. The situation with heating in Vogošća is bad enough, and no one should add fuel to the fire. We believe that yesterday's claims are causing unrest among users, raising panic, and attempting to manipulate users to divert their actions in the wrong direction. The Minister literally said that finding a solution would take two months, and in the digital age, you don't need to send a Pheidippides to fetch a service technician from Serbia; a phone call is enough.

We take this opportunity to express our concern, present since last year: Is "someone" trying to sabotage the boiler?", residents of Vogošća ask themselves.