Delegations of the Republic of Srpska and Serbia visited the municipality of Bosanski Petrovac. The topic of the meeting was problems of Serb returnees to this Federation municipality. New funds for assistance have been provided by the Republic of Srpska, and assistance will also come from Serbia in the coming period.

The Government of the Republic of Srpska has provided BAM 100,000 to solve the problem of infrastructure in Serb returnee settlements in the municipality of Bosanski Petrovac.

– The project of construction of a water supply system in the local community of Kapljuh, reconstruction of an urban road and probably also reconstruction of the road providing access to the only urban Orthodox cemetery here in Bosanski Petrovac – said Nemanja Davidović, President of the Municipal Assembly of Bosanski Petrovac FBiH.

Support for the returnee population is also coming from Vojvodina. A public call for assistance will be announced in cooperation with the Republic Secretariat for Displaced Persons and Migration.

– And that would actually be financing of various activities that would provide those families with a livelihood for themselves and their families, from agriculture, some service and other activities, building greenhouses, providing agricultural machinery – said Duško Ćutilo, director of the Fund for Refugees, Displaced Persons and Cooperation with Serbs in the Region of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.

In the last five years, the Government of Srpska has allocated 700,000 marks to help the returnee population in Bosanski Petrovac.

– Housing has been provided for about twenty families and about BAM 400,000 was spent. The remaining BAM 300,000 was invested in infrastructure, water supply, roadside assistance, religious buildings, as well as assistance to natural persons through sustainable return – said Ljubo Ninković, acting director of the Republic Secretariat for Displaced Persons and Migration.

The assistance to the returnee population will be provided in the following period, with the aim of sustainable return and survival in this area.

Source and photo: RTRS