The Minister of Transport of Canton Sarajevo (CS), Adnan Steta (SDP), said that the construction of the tram line from Ilidza to Hrasnica will begin this year.
He said this after yesterday the Minister of Finance of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Zoran Tegeltija (SNSD) and the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Odile Renaud-Basso signed a loan agreement for this project in the amount of 25 million euros in Sarajevo.
Steta noted that this project had been talked about for decades and that in 2019, when he was the cantonal minister of transport for the first time, he initiated activities for the realization of this project and that many people told him that he was ”dreaming”. He recalled that the section of this tram line will be built by a consortium of Turkish companies Yapi Merkezi Insaat ve Sanayi A.S. and Yapiray Demiryolu Insaat Sistemleri ve Ticaret.
”Then I answered them that I did not come to the ministerial position to dream but to work. There have been many challenges, criticisms, and obstructions all these years, but today we are where we are – one more step closer to signing the contract with the previously selected contractor, a consortium of two Turkish companies that implemented the largest infrastructure projects in the world, such as those in Istanbul, Izmir, Dubai, Doha, and elsewhere,” Steta pointed out.
According to him, the project was stopped in 2020 when the convocation of the cantonal government, to which he belonged, was replaced.
”We found ways and set out to fulfill all obligations so that the Ilidza – Hrasnica tram line project would not remain just a story,” he added.
He recalled that the Assembly of the CS must also adopt the loan agreement, and then the signing of the contract with the contractor will follow, and he announced the start of the works.
”After much struggle, we can say that the construction of the rail line to Hrasnica will begin this year,” he emphasized.
He estimated that the implementation of this project will improve the quality of life in Sarajevo. The deadline for the completion of the mentioned section of the tram line is the end of 2025, Klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
