SOCIAL LIBERAL LEADERS SAY SITUATION IN KNIN AREA DISASTROUS

KNIN, April 24 (Hina) - The economic-social situation in the Knin region is catastrophic and the most difficult of all in the entire country, worse even than the situation in Vukovar, Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) leaders Josko Kontic and Mario Kovac said after visiting Knin. #L# Kontic believes the unemployment rate of 52 percent in the Knin region is alarming. Unemployment in Sibenik-Knin County is 25 percent and in Vukovar 43 percent, there are no new jobs in Knin because the revival the government announced at a session there in 2001 never happened, he said, adding virtually the entire commercial sector was bankrupt. Excluding those employed in the army and police and tradesmen, there is only 1,400 people working in Knin, which is 200 less than in 2001, he said. At the same time, 10,000 Knin residents are beneficiaries of various forms of welfare, Kontic said, pointing out that the only positive picture in the area is the vital index of population growth, which stands at 169. HSLS leaders believe that greater government incentives should be offered, as well as a stimulating tax to motivate investors in the region. Kontic warned of problems in providing housing for settlers. He said that people who settled in this southern Croatian area at the invitation of the government should be taken care of, all the more so because 95 percent of them want to remain in Knin. He also considered it alarming that around 600 families who settled in the region from foreign countries were not recorded anywhere as eligible for housing, and that 2,500 people fit to work had no health care. (hina) sp/ha sb