UK says there is no money to pay the difference in subsidies for young people: Lies, corruption, and injustice by the KS Government will drive them out of BiH

By: Amra Vrabac

The Sarajevo Canton Government does not have money in the Budget to pay the difference in subsidies for young people to buy their first property. In January, young people who passed the public call were paid 4,800 KM each, which is the lowest subsidy ever paid since this project has been implemented. 1,142 applicants passed the public call, and the allocated 5.5 million KM was only enough for half of the previously paid subsidies, even though the public call promised up to 12,000 KM. In 2020 alone, during the Covid pandemic, young people were paid 7,000 KM each, and before and after that, 10,000 KM each.

The Prime Minister of KS Nihad Uk (Naša stranka), whose representatives did not support the initiative in the KS Assembly to pay additional funds to young people from the budget rebalance, i.e., the difference up to at least 10,000 KM, which is about 5,000 KM more per applicant, said today that there are currently no financial resources for this purpose, but that "the matter is not yet finished".

"The KS Government paid the full amount at the end of last year, which was slightly less than 5,000 KM at the time. We entered this year with dissatisfied users of this program. At one of the assemblies, an initiative was adopted to find ways to pay the second amount that these users expect. Currently, there are no financial resources for that, nor legal basis," said Uk.

When asked by journalists if young people can expect the difference to be paid, Uk said that there are no such expectations at the moment. Although the KS Government claims there is no money, Uk did not mention a budget rebalance, and the end of the year is approaching.

Given that the KS Assembly is the one that appoints or confirms the KS Government, the question is what consequences may arise from such a stance by Uk and the KS Government, which does not respect assembly decisions. Are the assembly representatives then "just hands" for the goals of the KS Government.

When they talk about young people at election rallies for the upcoming local elections, they boast about maternity benefits, free textbooks, and transportation, consciously avoiding mentioning subsidies for buying an apartment, which they previously boasted about.

The fiasco with this project will backfire on the parties of the trojka, and the young people who protested with their families and citizens in January have not forgotten that Prime Minister Uk (although he belongs to the youth population) called them a "handful of loud ones".

However, on October 6, all parties of the trojka will receive an answer for the lies and manipulation of more than 1,000 young people and their families who have committed to staying in Sarajevo Canton for the next five years. Now, many are already ready to return 4,800 KM and leave Sarajevo Canton, as well as the country of BiH.

Our youth will not be driven away by a thousand marks less, but by the lies, injustice, and corruption served by the parties in power. And that it is not only young people who are dissatisfied is shown by the protests of healthcare workers in KS, who have been in front of the KS Government for days, as well as educators who were banned from protesting in May, and the consequences of bad decisions and laws of the current government are felt not only by teachers and school employees, but also by students and parents. The education we have in Sarajevo is tailored to the minister and a few of her associates, and not at all to students and educators.