ASHDOWN VISITS MOSTAR, UNIFICATION ON PAPER ONLY

MOSTAR, April 26 (Hina) - The international community's High Representative to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Paddy Ashdown, visited the southern city of Mostar on Monday to attend the official launch of a joint fire service which has up until now been divided into two departments operating in the predominantly Muslim east part of the city and the Croat majority west.#L# The unification of the two departments into a single service is the first case of unification of a municipal institution and was hailed by Ashdown. He said that the unification of the city was a very difficult process and that there were many serious problems yet to be resolved, including the problem of a single municipal budget. I do not want to underestimate the gravity of the problems lying ahead, Ashdown said, adding that the deadline for the unification of municipal institutions was this October, before country-wide local elections. The High Representative admitted that the decision on the unification of Mostar, which he had imposed in late January, was still functioning only on paper and that citizens had not yet seen any improvement in their daily lives as a result of it. Mayor Hamdija Jahic and his deputy, Ljubo Beslic, agreed that the unification of the Fire Service was a step forward, but warned that the unification of municipal companies was yet to be carried out. (Hina) vm