prijava
SARAJEVO, May 8 (FENA) - Mayors of 13 municipalities and mayors of five cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina today signed grant agreements for local self-government units that participate in the Municipal Environmental and Economic Management (MEG) project, in the amount of 4.5 million KM for the first year of the project.
This amount was provided by the Government of Switzerland through the MEG project, implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), while partner municipalities and cities committed themselves to also provide financing from their own sources of funding.
The funds will be used for reconstruction of infrastructure such as water supply network, reduction of water losses and rehabilitation of the sewage network, investment in business climate, support for entrepreneurship, incentives and employment.
Swiss Ambassador to BiH, Andrea Rauber Saxer explained that the government of her country will invest a total amount of 20 million KM over the next four years, the whole duration of the project, while municipalities and cities will allocate the amount of about 6.5 million KM.
She emphasized that MEG project represents much more than the investments themselves.
“It is a project that advocates transparent communication with residents, responsible and transparent management of finances, as well as dignified life of all those living in these municipalities and cities,” said the Swiss ambassador.
In her message to the mayors of municipalities and cities Ambassador Saxer said that now the municipalities are competing with one another and that they have to do everything to make their local governments more attractive for investments.
UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative to BiH Sezin Sinanoglu said that thanks to this project, some 4,000 households for the first time will be connected to the water and sewage network.
This means that in total, thanks to this the project, approximately 71,000 citizens will experience improvements in their everyday life.
She added that they will support projects under the incentive scheme related to local economic development, with the support for 115 start-up companies and small entrepreneurs.
They will also work on improving the capacities of local authorities, health services and cleaner environment.
Sinanoglu particularly emphasized that the MEG project is not a short-term initiative but a long-term endeavor.
"For the last 12 months we have been working hard to build the capacities in the municipalities, and we will work in the years to come to improve the lives of people that live there," Sinanoglu said.
The agreements were signed by the municipal mayors of Bosanska Krupa, Gračanica, Gradačac, Gradiška, Kalesija, Kostajnica, Kozarska Dubica, Prnjavor, Sanski Most, Teslić, Tešanj and Žepče, and the mayors of Bihać, Cazin, Doboj, Prijedor and Tuzla.
(FENA) S. R.
