Nezavisne novine: The Council of Ministers of BiH has not approved the payments of remunerations for 18 commissions formed in last and 2007., because some of them did not even submit the reports on work or have not done the job for which they have been established.
Even though this question has been found on the table of last week's session of the Council of Ministers, proposals have been returned to ministries on reconciliation.
According to decision of the Council of Ministers of BiH, which regulates establishing and paying of remunerations for work in commissions, money cannot be paid to the members without submitted report on work.
That way, proposal on payment of 3.600 KM per member of the Commission for civil property has been refused because they have not determined the law, which was their main task. Remuneration for members of the Commission for civil property census of BiH in abroad has been reduced from 3.000 to 1.000 KM, but will be paid once the census has been finished.
Ranko Šakota, Deputy Minister of Finance, says that it is nothing unusual that money has not been paid because the Council of Ministers has adopted decision on commissions in order to make savings in budget.
"By decision it has been correctly regulated on who can get remunerations and in what amount, and all of it has been published in the 'Official Gazette of BiH' in order for everything to be public. Once the Council of Ministers approves the payment, that can happen, and before that, opinions are being given by the Legislation office, and ministries of justice and finances", Šakota has said.
He claims that there are working groups which are being formed by the Council of Ministers with entity ministries and competent BiH institutions, but that the members already in their job descriptions have that work and receive salaries for it.
Some of the approved remunerations will be reduced by 50%, like the Commission for public procurements of commodities and services, or office furniture for renovated building in Sarajevo in which the ministries are placed. As we find out, members of this commission, with the reduction of remunerations, will be paid around 1.300 KM.
Some of the commissions will not receive remunerations as they demanded because it has been decided that the height of remuneration will depend on number of solved subjects, like the Commission for complaints, which is a secondary authority and has a big number of subjects.
It is also questionable who will pay remunerations to members of the Commission for selection of text of hymn of BiH, because in the work of this commission have also participated representatives of different institutions which are the ones which actually need to pay remunerations to them.
The Council of Ministers did not accept the proposal decision on determining of financial remuneration for work to members of the Cross-state commission for monitoring of implementation of the agreement on sailing, waterways of internal waters and their marking and maintaining.
Šakota says that this is the only commission in which also participate representatives of entity and BiH institutions, and according to decision of the Council of Ministers for such working groups there is no stipulated payment of remuneration.
"The Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BiH is under permanent pressures for payment of remunerations for work in commissions to be approved, but we can give a positive opinion only for what is in accordance to the current decision", Šakota has said.