Nezavisne novine: SARAJEVO – Municipalities and cities are houses stripped of their authority because the existing laws on local self governance do not provide them with possibility to provide the citizens with all the rights exercised on local level.
This was said yesterday at the promotion of the Draft Law on Local Self Governance, which was written by the Citizens’ Forum from Tuzla.
By this proposal, which is accompanied by three amendments to the Constitution of BiH, local authorities will have the possibility for cross border connections and to form interest communities by certain projects, and it removes the possibility of stripping authority.
"It has to be known to whom the money belongs, and not to have the case of Mostaru where both the municipalities and the canton planned the same assets in their budget", said Vehid Šehić from the Citizens’ Forum.
From the municipalities also they warn that they feel completely stripped of their authority.
"In the RS, for example, the right of municipalities to declare themselves on concessions has been abolished and now anybody in Banja Luka can point the finger in any forest or sand mine and get a concession. Same is with the construction of the hydro power plant in Gacko", clarified Nikola Sekulović from the Municipal Council of Trebinje.
Mirko Pejanović from the Serbian Citizens’ Council and the professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences reminds that the municipalities in BIH can not get credit loans for capital projects, and some in greater part of their territory do not have electricity or water, but also no school or medical office.
"Municipalities at the moment cannot spend money of higher levels of authority", says Pejanović.
Šehić points out that it cannot be allowed to metropolise BiH or that regions such as east Herzegovina exist, which covers quarter of the state, and has 180.000 inhabitants.
The obligation of adoption of the Law on Local Self Governance, BiH accepted by entering the Council of Europe and by signing the European Charter on Local Self Governance. This proposal will be submitted to the BH parliament by the SDP MP Selim Bešlagić.