Osijek-Baranja District Remains Most Mine-Polluted in Croatia
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There are remaining 209,5 square kilometers of suspected mine-field in 19 towns and municipalities in the Osijek-Baranja District, which puts the District on the last place of the list of most polluted areas in Croatia in terms of land-mine pollution.
This information was presented by Kresimir Bubalo, the President of the District, at the meeting he held with the representatives of the Osijek Offices of the Croatian Demining Centre (CDC), Monday, June 13. Representatives of the townships and municipalities, as well as Osijek Baranja Police Department, also participated in the meeting. It was emphasized that the biggest problem lied in the fact that the Government still hasn’t adopted the Annual Plan for Priority in Demining, so that the District can’t go forward with any of its 41 priority demining projects. “After this meeting, we will contact the Government and demand that it expedite the demining in the District”, said Bubalo. Another problem emphasized at the meeting was the illegal removal of warning signs from the suspected mine-fields. For example, in the area of Osijek, 58 of the total number of 526 signs were removed illegally, while in Bilje, of the 74, 11 were removed. “At this moment, the total number of warning signs in the District is 1684”, said Dubravko Kruserovski, Director of the Osijek CDC. Also, individuals still go into the mine-field and conduct the demining themselves, which is against the Law. The representatives of the Police Department and the CDC appealed to the representatives of the municipalities to immediately inform the authorities about such illegal actions. “Since 1991, 232 persons were injured in land-mine related incidents, of whom 45 with fatal results” said Bubalo. |
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