Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the path of rapid development of road infrastructure, especially motorways and expressways, was stated at the beginning of a two-day congress on roads in that is being held in Sarajevo which brings together about 300 participants from ten European countries.
The congress was opened by BiH Minister of Communications and Transport Damir Hadžić, who particularly singled out the progress made on the construction of the motorway on Corridor Vc.
“But what is the greatest encouragement in 2014 is that as of August, BiH is in the focus of road construction projects. We managed to reach a diplomatic victory which has brought our country, possibly the largest project in the field of road infrastructure, in addition to Corridor Vc, which is the Adriatic-Ionian motorway,” said Hadžić adding that the conclusions from this meeting and suggestions of the experts will be carefully analyzed.
The congress is being held under the patronage of the Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina and is organized by the Association of Consultants Engineers of BiH with the support of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC).
The Director General of the European Road Federation (ERP) Christophe Nicodeme spoke about transportation corridors and the importance of the road network for social and economic development.
He said that more than 83 percent of land passenger transport takes place on roads, as well as more than 72 percent of freight transport which indicates their importance in the overall transportation framework.
Expressing the support from EDF, Nicodeme said that the Adriatic-Ionian motorway should enable greater integration, mobility and trade, and that this project requires significant cooperation of all the countries through which it passes.
Director of the RS Motorways Dušan Topić and Director of the FBiH Motorways Ensad Karić pointed out that it is evident that there has been progress in the construction of motorways.
“The FBiH will by the end of this year have 102 kilometers of motorways. At construction sites in the past three years we had 90 companies and about 5,000 workers,” said Karić, stressing that investment cycle that we had during this period must not be stopped.
The FBiH Motorways continue rapidly with new activities and Director Karić announced that as early as next week they will begin construction of the section Zenica South – Zenica North, and that in early October they will announce a tender for the construction of the section Međugorje-Počitelj, 11 kilometers long.
Congress participants, among others, were welcomed by the British Ambassador to BiH Edward Ferguson and Ambassador of Greece to BiH Carolos Gadis who stressed the importance of good transport infrastructure for connecting people and markets.
(Source: Fena/ photo mojevijestitransport)
