Due to the coronavirus pandemic and a large number of jobless people, the number of users in the soup kitchen in Mostar has increased significantly, as has the number of those seeking help at the Red Cross humanitarian organization.
Mostar Red Cross Secretary Alen Kajtaz explained for Klix.ba that the social image of Mostar is extremely difficult and even more difficult than statistics show. For this reason, he fears that a new wave of hungry and desperate citizens will soon be brought to the brink of existence.
“In the past month, the number of registered users in the public kitchen has grown from 330 to 380, ” Kajtaz says, citing a 20 percent percentage point, which is a worrying fact. But, in addition to the new 50 registered users, as he points out, new people are arriving every day in search of survival meals that the public kitchen, for the time being, manages to give them.
Kajtaz points out that the Red Cross was expecting a difficult situation, which he prepared for knowing that a large number of citizens would need their help, as many lost their jobs and income.
”Since the first day of the pandemic, we have taken every step possible to ensure that the kitchen can run smoothly, and thanks to this fact we have been able to avoid all possible complications. We have created three teams that are independent of each other, in case of symptoms, we have opened an additional two points to distribute food to customers, one in Salakovac and one in Bafo settlement, precisely to reduce the risk of coronavirus infection, ” explains Kajtaz for Klix.ba.
“People who are out of work, on a daily basis and simply forced to seek help from humanitarian organizations are already coming, because the issue of financial assistance and support from the Employment Service and state institutions is not regulated yet,” Kajtaz says.
