Renovation of 45 houses completed in Banja Luka after floods

The renovation of 45 priority housing units in Banja Luka has been completed under the EU Flood Recovery Programme, while work on 21 is ongoing. These housing units are located in the Banja Luka neighbourhood of Lazarevo, which suffered significant damage during the floods in May 2014, announced the EU Delegation to BiH, as reported by the Bosnian news agency Patria.

The EU allocated around 280,000 EUR (560,000 KM) for the renovation of the housing stock in Lazarevo, while the total planned EU investment in the renovation of 203 housing units in the Banja Luka area amounts to more than 880,000 EUR (1.7 million KM).

The Lazarevo neighbourhood was recently visited by Massimo Mina, Head of Operations for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross-border Cooperation at the EU Delegation to BiH, who met with families whose homes were renovated with EU funds.  - It is nice to see that EU aid is bringing positive changes to the lives of people who lost their homes in the floods - says Mina.

Moving into a renovated home has certainly brought a positive change to the life of Zoran Tešnović's family, who emphasises that he cannot thank enough for the provided assistance.

- One of my three children suffers from West syndrome. The moisture that remained in the house further worsened her health condition, resulting in 3 to 5 seizures per day - explains Zoran.

A positive change also occurred in the family of Gostimir Kovačević.

- In addition to help with the renovation of the house, the contractor financed by the EU recognised my son's exceptional craft skills and hired him - says Gostimir.
 
In addition to the 66 housing units covered by the priority renovation phase, the EU is currently selecting an additional 137 beneficiaries who applied through a public call.

- The public call, which also covered the Banja Luka area, closed on 12 November. Our intention is to process the applications as soon as possible and start renovation works, enabling as many people as possible to return home before winter - concludes Mina. 

There are families both in Lazarevo and in other flood-affected areas that, unfortunately, will not be able to receive assistance under the EU Flood Recovery Programme due to the Programme's focus on the rapid renovation of damaged homes, rather than the reconstruction of destroyed ones - since in many cases destroyed houses are located on landslides, a careful risk assessment and preparatory works are needed before reconstruction begins. The reconstruction of destroyed housing units will be part of the next phase of EU support for flood recovery, which is currently being prepared. 
 
The family of Svetlana Umičević falls into this category - a large amount of moisture in the ground beneath her house resulted in the collapse of the structure.

- It is clear that the house now has to be built from the ground up. Therefore, I appeal for help from all those who care about such cases - pleads Svetlana, who is temporarily living with friends with her husband, two small children and mother-in-law.

Resolving challenging cases like Svetlana's requires a coordinated approach and decisive moves by all involved to ensure aid reaches those who need it most. This is a clear example of the broader challenges faced by government representatives in BiH who are leading the comprehensive flood recovery process.