Information about the expulsion of private trainers for children with developmental disabilities, as well as the ban on work at the Olympic swimming pool in Sarajevo, and the subsequent intervention of the police, echoed in the public. Parents are outraged because, as they say, children’s rights are threatened. The management of the pool denies the allegations about the ban on training and work, referring to legal and safety regulations. UNICEF also reacted.
Edita Gojak is the mother of a nine-year-old boy with autism, who has been training individually at the Olympic pool in Sarajevo for a year. It all started on April 9.
“Until now, no one has drawn our attention, we haven’t had any problems. That night, such a scene suddenly appeared that they decided to remove the trainer who was there with my child while he was in the water. At our invitation, the director received us last night, we sat in their hall, there were a lot of parents with children. We tried to have a conversation and come to an agreement, what we concluded was that he did not offer us a concrete solution,” says Edita Gojak.
United in an informal group, the parents sent an appeal to the City Council of Sarajevo, the Human Rights Commission of the City Council, UNICEF and the Supervisory Board of the Olympic Pool, BHRT writes.
“We submitted to the Supervisory Board of the Public Company Otoka Pool an application and a request for the dismissal of the Board of Directors, as well as the initiation of an internal investigation and an examination of the circumstances that occurred and all participants, employees of the pool who participated in the implementation of such a decision,” says Semir Selimović, one of the parents.
The Management of the Olympic Pool reminds us of the house rules that the pool has, and accordingly the rules and decisions. They also add that since its opening, the pool has received 15 thousand for activities for children with developmental disabilities in the pool.
“We used those funds and said we would allow children with disabilities and their children to use them. The Olympic Pool has not made any decision, the only decision that exists is the decision from 2023. The focus here is not on children with disabilities at all, but on the illegal and illegal use of the Olympic Pool’s resources. Natural persons advertise on social networks and offer to do education, teach swimming or help children with disabilities, which is not the case, these are natural persons, this is our registration, they are taking our bread in a way, they are not qualified, they are not registered, they are working illegally,” claims Avdija Hasanović, director of the Public Company Olympic Pool Otoka.
We also spoke with the coach of Edita’s son, who says that he performs his work as a legal and physical entity. In the current case, he acts as a physical entity, and the trainings are conducted in the recreational part of the pool. As he claims, the pool has allowed children with disabilities to come for free, but has not provided training for the children.
“As a legal entity, I reserve certain lanes in the monthly claims through the club, however, sometimes it is not possible for me to do this, exclusively for people with developmental disabilities, because the lanes are all taken from 3 to 10 am, and all the parents want to bring their children after work or school. We do not go to places where legal entities are, we use what we paid for the entrance. The parents hire us, we work with these children pro bono,” says Kenan Ademović, a licensed trainer for people with developmental disabilities.
Parents have full trust in the trainers who work with their children, and with their gatherings in front of the Olympic pool, they say that they will not give up on seeking answers and finding solutions to the situation they find themselves in, in which the children are suffering. Due to the whole situation, UNICEF also reacted, standing up for the protection of children, and called on the authorities to put the interests of the child first. We have not received a response from the City Council of the City of Sarajevo, which is the founder of the Olympic swimming pool.
