Fund for Assistance Management Board: One Million KM for Road Reconstruction Towards Željezo Polje

At today's third session of the Management Board of the Federal Fund for Assistance to Disaster-Stricken Areas on the Territory of the Federation of BiH, held in Mostar, chaired by FBiH Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić, Fund Director Jasmin Jaganjac presented information on the Fund's activities to date in registration and operation, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

As stated, the Fund was registered in the court register of the Municipal Court in Sarajevo on September 3, 2014, by a decision on registration. On September 8, 2014, the Fund received a decision from the Federal Ministry of Justice approving the creation of seals, and two seals and two stamps of the Fund were obtained, along with a decision on the classification of legal entities according to the classification of activities from the Statistics Office of Sarajevo Canton.

The FBiH Tax Administration, Sarajevo Cantonal Tax Office, also issued a Certificate of Tax Registration for the Fund on September 8, 2014, and UNION Bank d.d. Sarajevo opened dedicated and regular operating accounts for the Fund.

The Management Board's decision from September 4, 2014, on directing 4,000,000 convertible marks to municipalities has been implemented, and funds for 36 municipalities were disbursed on September 15, 2014. Tripartite agreements on the use of funds will be signed between authorized representatives of the Fund (director), the Municipality (mayor), and the end-user, as stipulated by law.

Currently, the Fund is awaiting the prime ministers of the Tuzla and Zenica-Doboj cantons, along with municipal representatives, to resolve the issue of locations/land for the construction of new replacement houses damaged by landslides, which would enable the implementation of decisions from September 4, 2014, to direct 1,000,000 KM each to the governments of these cantons.

The project for the reconstruction of the road towards Željezo Polje is in the preparation phase, for which 1,000,000 KM has also been allocated.

Regarding the Fund's Management Board decision to direct funds in the amount of 2,000,000 KM for assistance to business entities (maximum amount of 2,000 KM per entity), it is expected that the cantonal prime ministers will prepare the beneficiaries and tripartite agreements.

The Management Board today expressed concern about the slowness of municipalities that have already received funds from the Federal Fund for Assistance to Disaster-Stricken Areas, but have not yet prepared tripartite agreements, the signing of which is crucial for the distribution of aid to end-users. Therefore, the Management Board will send letters urging the prompt completion of this work so that the reconstruction of the destroyed and damaged housing stock can begin, reports Patria.