Railways without rules, Government without a compass

(Patria) - Railways of the Federation of BiH today are an exemplary case of how Nermin Nikšić's Government understands the management of public enterprises - instead of respecting laws and professional criteria, the priority becomes the distribution of functions along party lines, says MP in the FBiH Parliament Jasmina Bišćević Tokić (SDA) in a statement to the Patria News Agency (NAP).

Bišćević Tokić emphasizes that the current Management of Railways of the Federation of BiH, led by personnel from Our Party, is changing the Rulebook on Work and Systematization, not with the aim of improving work and safety, but to provide space for personnel without professional qualifications.

Particularly concerning, according to our interlocutor, is the abolition of the mandatory professional exam 646 for management positions in railway infrastructure. This exam has guaranteed a minimum of expertise and safety in an area where every mistake can mean human lives for decades.

Its removal solely to enable political appointments, MP Bišćević Tokić believes, is nothing more than a direct endangerment of traffic safety.

- The practice of illegal appointments has become the rule. Thus, we have a situation where someone without the necessary management experience in legal affairs is appointed as acting executive director for legal and personnel affairs.

Then the case of the former advisor to Minister Forte and a candidate of Our Party, who immediately after being dismissed, becomes the executive director for development and investments - stated Bišćević Tokić.

According to her, the FBiH Government has appointed acting officials four times in the last two years without a tender procedure, contrary to the Law on Ministerial, Government, and Other Appointments and Article 15 of the Decree on Exercising Authority in Business Companies.

- While positions are being filled, the state of the infrastructure is alarming. Railways of FBiH have lost more than 5.5 million KM due to delays in the reconstruction project of the railway in Jablanica. Contracts with foreign partners worth tens of millions have been canceled.

On the ground, we witness wagons derailing, overgrown tracks, and outdated signaling. Trade unions rightly refuse to give consent to such systematization, because it is clear that the consequences of such decisions will not only be financial but also safety-related - says Bišćević Tokić.

Ironically, she notes, the government that invokes European standards is abolishing the only condition that all European railways have long recognized as a minimum of expertise. The reform that the Government promotes is reduced to political marketing and personnel trading, while the company sinks into losses and loses key contracts.

- Railways of the Federation of BiH today are not a symbol of progress but an illustration of what management looks like when political suitability is more important than knowledge. And the train that Nikšić's Government is driving, without expertise, without rules, and without responsibility, inevitably leads in the wrong direction - concludes Bišćević Tokić in an interview with NAP.

(D.K.)