Bosnian Villagers Protest Over Flood Damage

Several hundred villagers protested outside the municipality building in Zeljezno Polje on Monday to express their anger at the authorities for not giving them aid since the heavy rainfall and landslides destroyed their homes in May, local media reported.

One of the protesters, Mirsad Colic, said that his house was in ruins and he was still living in one of the temporary shelters set up for people made homeless by the floods that destroyed dozens of thousands of residences in Bosnia.

“I don’t have a house, the rain took away everything. Everything I had was destroyed,” Colic said.
He accused municipality officials of “doing nothing” to help. “I just ask for a safe roof above my head,” he said.

The municipality of Zepce, in which Zeljezno Polje is located, has so far not given any direct assistance to those affected by the floods because it is still waiting for money to be sent by higher levels of government.

An aid fund planned by the country’s Bosniak-Croat Federation entity has still not started working, meaning that money cannot be sent on to the municipalities and cantons to aid local reconstruction efforts.

Even though the necessary laws were adopted weeks ago, the fund was never properly activated and most entity ministers are now on their summer holidays for around three weeks.

The Ministry of Justice was not able to provide a comment for Balkan Insight about what happened to the fund and when people like the villagers from Zeljezno Polje can expect help.

Brigita Lovric of the Zepce municipality of told Balkan Insight that the local authorities have so far put some 300,000 euro into the reconstruction of roads and alternative paths to Zeljezno Polje but that they do not yet have enough funds...