The number of users of the Public Soup Kitchen for Children in Lukavac, whose existence represents our current situation, is constantly increasing. While they survive largely thanks to humane people, they are also left without their facility. With personal funds, they plan to build a facility whose start is planned for March, and which best reflects the situation in our country.
There are currently 300 users in the Public Soup Kitchen for Children, while another 150 are waiting to become members.
Apart from their difficult existence, they were also evicted from the premises they used for rent, so they decided to build their facility.
“We asked the municipality to give us construction materials or something else, we applied, but we did not pass there,” said Selma Zukic, the president of the Association of Altruists “Hands of Friendship” (in Bosnian: ”’Ruke Prijateljstva”) Lukavac.
When the appeals for help did not work out, the Association of Altruists decided to take unexpected steps.
“I offered myself to buy the land and, with my own funds, to build this Children’s Public Soup Kitchen so that we don’t have to bother anymore. I even sold the apartment in Sarajevo, ” Selma Zukic, the president of the Association of Altruists “Ruke Prijateljstva” Lukavac stated.
But that’s not the end of this story, said Selma. Since a smaller facility of 30 square meters will be built, they asked the Municipality to buy at least another 10 square meters for the warehouse, but it didn’t happen. They state that their funds from the municipal budget have also been reduced.
Edin Delic, the mayor of Lukavac, was also contacted and asked for comment. He told briefly by phone that it was not true that the funds had been reduced, only the name of the category had been changed. He knew nothing about the construction plans.
We have documents in our possession that confirm the opposite. It was noted that the funds from the Budget, which amounted to 20.000 BAM per year, are now 17.000, and requests for construction assistance were also sent. When we consider the child allowance of 25 BAM per month in the Canton and the budget limit, the question is who will protect the most vulnerable categories, of which there are more each day?
“We have 6423 users. That’s a huge number. We have an increased allowance and the number of these users is 1423. So that means we have a total of almost 8.000 people who have the right to child allowance, ” said Esad Dzidic, Minister of Labor, Social Policy and Return of Tuzla Canton (TC).
“That is no longer a social problem because we are familiar with it, we know its causes, consequences, manifestations. These are social deviations that can be solved with a multidimensional approach,” Ervin Sejdinovic, a sociologist said.
Will it be solved, or will we continue to count the vulnerable who depend on the humanity of their fellow citizens?
If the problems are not addressed effectively, new injustices will be created and new generations will live in a society without any perspective.
