More than four months have passed since the natural disaster unprecedented in the history of Jablanica. Yet, as time slips away, little has been done. Residents are receiving solutions only from humanitarian organizations while being forgotten by everyone else. The inadequate container settlement was visited, as well as Donja Jablanica itself, which suffered the most destruction on October 4th.
Grayness and desolation were encountered in Donja Jablanica. Hardly anyone visits the cold, devastated homes, and life in this village seems to have come to a sudden halt. One excavator is involved in clearing the area, while much of the village remains buried under debris brought by the torrents that ravaged the settlement.
“We’re expecting a commission from Mostar and Tuzla from the Faculty of Mining, Geology, and Civil Engineering to assess the structural stability. I’d return tomorrow if it were rebuilt, nothing more or less,” says Amir Begovic.
However, when they will concretely receive the green light for return and reconstruction remains unknown. Fear, they say, is still present, as nothing has been done regarding the safety of the terrain and the quarry remediation.
“There are people here who can’t return, who are directly in the quarry’s danger zone. The fact is that no one can tell us anything about the quarry. With the next rain, we might again face – whether to a greater or lesser extent, we don’t know. But the stones and material still loom above the village,” Begovic adds.
The donated container settlement is also not yet functional. The containers leak and are unsuitable for living. Yet they are the only solution for some villagers. Mersiha Begovic, a mother of three young children, says she is currently in an inadequate apartment lent to her by relatives: “They gave me the keys, saying all that’s left is to concrete it. It didn’t matter to me whether it was concreted or not. We thought we’d move in within a day or two, but when we saw it leaking, we decided not to move in until it’s repaired.”
When the containers will be habitable, no one knows. The Jablanica Municipality recalled that the adaptation project is incomplete, and the keys, they say, were handed over at the insistence of the families.
“The International Organization for Migration (IOM), in cooperation with the Municipality of Jablanica, initiated activities and is already working to repair the containers to make them livable,” explains Jablanica Mayor Emir Muratovic.
While waiting for answers and solutions, even alternative accommodation remains unresolved, let alone permanent housing.
