The consequences of the unstable weather in BiH are already counted in the millions.
For the third day, producers in Semberija are summing up and repairing the damage after the storm that has affected this region in recent days. It is still early for a precise assessment, but it is already clear that the authorities will need help.
The multi-member family of Vitomir Đokić lives from greenhouse production. Everything they have and live on, they say, is in their fields. The storm caused enormous damage to them, which they cannot repair on their own.
“We have 34 greenhouses, we have peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers there. The damage is great, the biggest problem is that nylon, and part of it destroyed the products. The storm caused enormous damage,” says Vitomir.
“Production under the open sky must be subject to insurance”, they state in the relevant ministry, where they promised help to all producers who suffered damage from the storm, but also that producers should be registered and insured in order to realize the right to help.
“We will all participate in the repair of the damage in every possible way, but I’m talking to you as someone who has to respect the rules, laws, regulations, we have to be in the formal and legal sense someone who meets the conditions, in order to be able to react”, explained Savo Minic, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the RS.
A state of natural disaster has been declared in the area of Bijeljina. Damage assessment commissions are on the ground.
“We are trying to sum up the damage as soon as possible and get the data, so that, in accordance with the budgetary possibilities at the local level, they can participate in the compensation of part of the damage suffered by agricultural farms,” said Ljubiša Petrović, mayor of Bijeljina.
The assessment of damage will, they say, be carried out as a priority on agricultural crops and public infrastructure facilities, and after that, if possible, also on individual facilities, in cooperation with local community councils.
