While the damage caused during the recent floods in the area of Bihac is slowly being summed up, the city authorities are nearing the end of the process of processing requests for compensation for flood damage in December last year. The procedure is slow and complicated, there are not enough funds to cover all rehabilitation costs, and greater involvement of higher levels of government is necessary.
As the Mayor of the City of Bihac, Elvedin Sedic, said, there are federal by-laws that complicate the entire situation regarding the payment of funds for flood damage repair, but the city authorities have decided to make it easier through an internal rulebook.
”We have a federal decision on the criteria and conditions of compensation for damages, we have an instruction on a unique methodology and both documents are by-laws of the federal level of government that can be changed like all laws can be changed. The third in a series of by–laws is the rulebook of the local self-government unit, so ours here in the City of Bihac, which was made on the basis of these two previous acts. Analyzing this rulebook and through the work of the Commission that assessed the resulting damage, and alsothrough the work of the City Council, we have actually determined that there is an opportunity to act within the rulebook in order to make it easier for people to submit requests,” told Sedic in an interview with agency Fena.
He points out that the procedure has been completed as far as the City Administration is concerned, and that they are waiting for the decision of the Government of Una-Sana Canton on the adoption of the damage assessment report and the decision on the allocation of funds so that the funds they receive from the Canton can be combined with other funds and start withpayments.
”We expect to receive cantonal funds soon, which, along with the donations we received from certain cities, such as the donation from the City of Sarajevo, we will combine and share according to the percentage of the amount of damage. I must say that not everyone will be able to receive compensation for damages because a selection will be made in the sense of whether the building has a building permit or not, whether it is a residential building or a weekend house that is rented, whether a person can bring the building back independently from his own income in a state in which it is possible to live in it or is a person in a state of social need, etc. So, there are criteria that are defined by the ordinance, and based on that, an assessment is made because there is no logic for someone who has two houses and five weekend homes in Racic to receive damages for those weekend homes because it is not his place of residence but the buildings that he rents. And also illegally built buildings, which is an additional problem,” points out Sedic.
He adds that they have about 250,000 BAM at their disposal, which means that half of the estimated damage will not be compensated. About 30 percent of the total damage will be paid out, which means that if someone reported damage in the amount of 10,000 BAM, they will receive about 2-3 thousand BAM of funds.
