Due to the problem with the water supply, the BHRT team visited Srebrenica. However, conversations with residents showed that the lack of water is only one of the problems they face every day, especially returnees. Unrenovated houses, poor infrastructure and difficult realization of basic rights are part of their everyday life.
Sabina Malić, a returnee to Srebrenica, says that she received only one tank of water during the entire summer.
“We live like in prehistoric times. First and foremost, we don’t have water.”
She says that help with water would mean a lot to her, but that there is no money for tankers. The return was supposed to be a new beginning for many. Almost three decades later, however, numerous problems remain unsolved. Bekto Memic says that returnees feel neglected.
“It is certainly difficult, but without water it is the most difficult.”
When they returned, they expected the reconstruction of houses and infrastructure, but also the basic conditions for life – water, roads, sewage, work, and health and social security. Alma Avdić says that she received very little help from the institutions.
“Everything I have, I take out loans and buy.”
There are fewer and fewer people in the village, he says. The water supply problem could be solved through projects that have already been launched. Almir Dudić, councilor in the Srebrenica Municipality Assembly, says that half a million marks have been provided in the budget this year to solve the problem.
“A tender has been announced and the company is in the phase of developing the project and solutions. The project will only be finished sometime in the spring of next year.”
The Mayor of Srebrenica Municipality, Miloš Vučić, says that without serious renovation of the water supply network, there is no permanent solution.
“We managed to allocate half a million KM from our own budget, but that is insufficient for the water supply system, which has not seen any significant investment in the last 30 years. It is operational, but our filters are 60 years old.”
Assistance amounting to 1.5 million marks has arrived from the Government of Republika Srpska, while the promised aid from the Government of the Federation of BiH is also expected. In doing so, Srebrenica once again raises the issue of return. For the process of return does not end the day a person moves back into their home; it is only complete when they can live there with dignity.
