For some time, the citizens of Tuzla who live in the urban and suburban areas of this large city have been living without water, sewerage, and quality road infrastructure. They want this image of Tuzla to change as soon as possible, they want water or they will be forced to leave their homes. We checked what life is like without water in the 21st century.
Although they are only five to six kilometers from the city center, the citizens of Tuzla who live in urban and suburban settlements still live without basic communal infrastructure, and without water. Even in the case of light snowfall, their road is completely blocked, and some settlements have been waiting for the rehabilitation of landslides since 2014.
“They told us that it is best to solve the water problem with a cistern. We collect rainwater. We have a cistern of seven cubic meters. But if there is a drought, there is no water. Then we must buy water. But there’s a problem there too, if it rains, not a single cistern can go up, so we somehow get by as we know how,” says Sabina Dedic Grdjic.
“We applied to the federal ministries and the federal government for this water supply project and we expect to receive support for the realization of these activities. We will also work on the rehabilitation of road routes in all local communities,” said Zijad Lugavic, mayor of Tuzla.
“60 percent of the city of Tuzla does not have a sewage system. These are big infrastructure projects that should have started a long time ago. If we start projects now, we are already five or ten years late, which makes me very sad. When you say what is the role of councilors, you see that you have over twenty councilors who are independent and that there is no decision-making power,” stated Nikica Vidovic, a councilor in the City Council of the City of Tuzla.
Tuzla is one of the largest cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) with 110,000 inhabitants. A city that prides itself on tourism and development. However, Tuzla will only be like that when its citizens who live outside the city center are no longer second-class citizens.
“We really hope that the authorities will understand that they need to help, to make this problem a priority,” Sabina Dedic Grdjic added.
The mayor of Tuzla, Zijad Lugavic, is constantly emphasizing that the citizens of Tuzla and their quality of life are his first priority. The people of Tuzla really want to believe that this is true.
