Final phase of construction of the new building for Brčko District Police HQ has been officially announced today with the joint signing of Memorandum of Understanding and Contribution Agreements by Holger Schroeder, Head of Operations of EU Delegation to BiH, Mladen Ćavar, Deputy Minister of Security of BiH, Anto Domić, Brčko District Mayor, Zahira Virani, UNDP Resident Representative a.i. and representatives of the Brčko District Police and other institutions.
“The EU recognises that for police services to work effectively, functional and adequate infrastructure is needed. Therefore, we are financing the completion of the police building in Brčko with 3.5 million EUR from the Instrument of Pre-Accession funds. The Police of Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, since its establishment until today, gave a signification contribution to preventing and combatting crime. We are glad to see that the new police building will host several law enforcement agencies – Border police, Office of Foreigners Affairs – because day to day contact between different police agencies fosters trust and cooperation”, stated Holger Schroeder, Head of Operations of EU Delegation to BiH.
This Final project Phase is worth more than 5 million EUR and will be completed by mid-2015. The new building will accommodate the Brčko District Police as well as offices of the Border Police and the Office of Foreigners Affairs.
“Where there is a will there is a way. Once the project is complete several police and security organizations will successfully work within the same facility. I hope this will be a positive example other institutions can follow”, said Mladen Ćavar, Deputy Minister of Security of BiH.
This project represents a good example of cooperation of international and BiH partners joining the efforts and resources to strengthen the country’s capacities for EU integration. This is another step towards improving the overall conditions for the operations of District Police and enabling law-enforcement sector in Brčko District to fulfill its mandated role.
“Signing of MoU and Agreement marks completion of the preparation process that started 10 months ago. I hope that construction will begin in the spring for the new Police building to be done in 2015”, said Anto Domić, Mayor of Brčko District. The project will both improve the working conditions of the police in Brčko District and contribute to the strengthening of the rule of law in the country.
“Government of District Brčko, European Union and UNDP are joining forces and funds to ensure this project’s successful and timely implementation. UNDP is proud to continue successful cooperation with Brčko District authorities on advancing the Human Security agenda. Right now we are working closely on collection of the small arms and light weapons campaign and setting up of Victim Witness Support offices”, said Zahira Virani, UNDP Resident Representative a.i.
(Source: UN Communications)
