On Mountain Igman, in the micro-locality of Blazuj, the construction of the largest detention unit in the area of the former Yugoslavia with around 300 beds and the most sophisticated security equipment is coming to an end.
Journalists visited the construction site yesterday, and on that occasion interview with the director of the Miljacka – Sarajevo Correctional Prison, Faruk Zubcevic, was done.
The complex will consist of four buildings – an administrative building, a police building, a service building and a special detention unit building with its accompanying infrastructure. In addition, a parking lot will be built for visitors and staff of the institution, which has not been the practice until now.
“In accordance with the strategy of the fight against corruption, based on the anti-corruption work plan and actions coordinated by the anti-corruption team of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), the FBiH Ministry of Justice, in the implementation of the Miljacka Prison – Sarajevo, in a legal manner and in cooperation with all competent authorities, the registration in the land registry of 500 dunums of land on Mount Igman was carried out,” Zubcevic noted.
He stressed that the works on the construction of the most modern detention unit in the Balkans are in the final phase and that all the necessary permits, approvals and consents for the construction have been obtained earlier. The construction of the facility was partly financed by the FBiH Government, and partly by the European Union (EU) through IPA funds.
“In this way, the constant overbooking of the Miljacka Sarajevo Prison, which is also the largest detention unit in the Balkans because it serves the two largest courts in BiH, as well as the Canton Sarajevo (CS) Prosecutor’s Office, will be solved. This permanently solves the problem of detention capacity,” toldZubcevic.
He points out that the facilities on Igman will be equipped with the best equipment from a security point of view, and that the works were carried out with the same intensity during the winter months.
“I believe that in this way we have shown that we are at a high personnel and technological level and that we are able to realize even the most complicated projects within the deadline. This is also supported by about 20 tenders for which only one appeal was filed,” he added.
The director of the Sarajevo Prison says that the realization of this project will open up space to solve the problem of lack of capacity for police and security agencies such as Intelligence-Security Agency (OSA), Federal Police Administration, Minstry of Internal Affairs of CS, Judicial and Prison Police, as well as the lack of space for Municipal and Cantonal court and the CSProsecutor’s Office.
“For the first time in the territory of Sarajevo, we have 500 dunums of land that have all necessary ownership documentation, and we intend to hand them over to the police and security agencies in order to fully solve all the problems regarding accommodation capacities for their special and specialist formations, which is crucial for the fight against corruption in federal and other levels,” said Zubcevic.
