Žilić for NAP: The policy of the FBiH Government towards TK is to start nothing, but they gladly take levies and spend them elsewhere!

(Patria) - The most populous and economically most developed canton in the Federation of BiH - Tuzla Canton (TK) still does not have a single kilometer of highway or express road built.

This is a devastating fact, considering, among other things, that 12 percent of all vehicles in BiH are registered precisely in the TK area - and data for 2024 speaks of 157,000 vehicles.

- From that aspect alone, the Federation of BiH should return part of those huge levies to TK, but it returns nothing. This is probably the policy of the Federation of BiH in this mandate - nothing is being started.

We pay the most taxes, we contribute the most to the budget of the Federation of BiH, and we get the least back. And that, to say the least and put plainly, is not fair - says in an interview for the Patria News Agency (NAP) the Minister of Trade, Tourism and Transport of TK, Almir Žilić (DF).

The public constantly hears a story, Žilić continues, that Tuzla Canton is in a traffic blockade due to land expropriation. However, our interlocutor adds, the problem lies in the Law on State Property, which is not implemented throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- Look at Herzegovina - it also has state property, but Schmidt's law does not apply there at all. And if it does, it gets drawn out, and then no one will blow up the road once it is built. And then it is gradually legalized.

Only in Tuzla Canton are they splitting hairs, demanding the establishment of legal procedures, respect for Schmidt's imposed Law on State Property. The Commission for State Property has not met for a year and a half. The damage is only to TK, politicking will suffocate us here - says Žilić.

The unblocking of Tuzla Canton's roads, he emphasizes, must be of importance for both the Federation and the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- I believe there is no room for those day-to-day political bickering at the moment. Tuzla Canton, with this SDA-DF government, is quite open to cooperation with everyone. However, there is no response.

But we all hope that something will happen and that our appeals from TK will reach the ears of the leaders of the Federation, that we will sit down and talk about this unblocking of TK's roads - emphasizes Žilić.

He notes that the TK Government does not have any serious connections with the Prime Minister of FBiH, Nermin Nikšić (SDP BiH), although there have been some developments regarding the University Clinical Center (UKC) Tuzla.

- However, there are no contacts regarding the issue of unblocking roads, and believe me, we are yearning for some big and concrete meetings with the Federation Government on this matter - adds Žilić.

He believes that politicking has kept Tuzla Canton in a traffic blockade for many years, bearing in mind that almost all parties have been in power in FBiH over the last 30 years, and absolutely nothing has been done in this regard.

- I hope that with the completion of works on the bypass near Živinice, better days will come and that this road blockade in Tuzla Canton will finally be lifted - concludes Žilić in an interview with NAP.

Let us recall, the hands of the TK Government, led by Prime Minister Irfan Halilagić, are tied due to the slow process of land expropriation, unresolved property relations, outdated land registers, and an institutional blockade due to the lack of a unified law on state property.

Given that a large part of the land designated for the route of highways, bypasses, and express roads in the TK area is owned by the state, the procedure for changing the purpose of the land is not possible without the active participation of the Commission for State Property at the Council of Ministers of BiH, which has not been functioning since 2018.

And in order to remove the existing barriers, the TK Government recently sent several initiatives to the competent institutions at higher levels of government, as well as to the Office of the High Representative (OHR).

The TK Government sent a request to the Council of Ministers of BiH for the urgent appointment of the Commission for State Property, initiated an amendment to the Law on Agricultural Land and a supplement to the Law on the Temporary Prohibition of Disposal of State Property of BiH, along with a request for an exemption during the construction of capital infrastructure projects.

From the TK Government, they added that they will continue with preparatory activities within their competencies, and that they expect institutions at higher levels of government and the OHR to enable the unblocking of the process and create conditions for the realization of infrastructure projects of strategic importance for TK.