prijava
SARAJEVO, September 19 (FENA) - In twenty municipalities in both BiH entities, monitoring of the process of allocation and spending of public funds intended for returnees in these local communities is ongoing.
It includes the monitoring of the expenditure of funds allocated from the local, cantonal and entity budgets, as well as from the Fund for the Return in the period 2018 to 2021.
Members of the monitoring teams visit local communities and survey the representatives of these local communities, that is, beneficiaries of the donation through a pre-prepared questionnaire.
They are also having a conversation with municipal officials about implemented projects regarding the number of renovated housing units, infrastructure, electrification, demining and other segments provided for in the Revised Strategy for the Implementation of Annex VII of the Dayton Agreement.
The monitoring teams are in constant communication with the team of the Union for sustainable return and integration in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to which they deliver collected information from the field.
The project "Increasing the responsibility of the process of spending public funds for sustainable return to BiH" is financially supported by USAID, and implemented by the Center for Civil Initiatives (ACFC program) and the Union for Sustainable Return and Integration.
The project is implemented in the municipalities: Kakanj, Vareš, Travnik, Pale, Drvar, Bosansko Grahovo, Glamoč, Goražde, Foča, Foča Ustikolina, Čajniče, Bratunac, Rudo, Čapljina, Prijedor, Prnjavor, Doboj, Modriča, Pelagićevo, Brčko District.
Given that this is an extremely important issue, the expenditure of public funds, which is potentially subject to abuse and corrupt actions, monitoring activists have a challenging and responsible task. The goal is to identify and make visible the problems that exist in the local community, the solution of which contributes to the dedicated and transparent spending of public funds for the needs of returnees, according to members of the monitoring teams.
During on-site visits of the mentioned municipalities, it was observed that even after 26 years since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, the spending of funds is not completely transparent, and it does not always reach people who are really in need, while large funds are allocated for sustainable return. As an example, the monitoring team states that in the municipality of Bosansko Grahovo, public money was spent on the construction of a residential building that was not inhabited by those for whom the building was originally intended.
A positive example of the use of funds was identified by the monitoring team in Modriča, in the largest returnee community, Tarevci, where the agricultural cooperative employs the local population. It is a project that has its own economic sustainability.
Displaced persons still live in the Tasovčići Collective Center in the municipality of Čapljina. Life in the barracks after 27 years since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement is below human dignity, the people in the collective center are sick, and the monitoring team stated that it is known that the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina took a loan from the CEB (Central European Bank) to close the collective centers.
It was noticed, according to the evaluations by the members of monitoring teams, that despite active engagement of citizens, some of the projects for returnees are determined according to party affiliation and political preference.
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