PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT HOLDS SESSION IN LAPAC

DONJI LAPAC, June 10 (Hina) - At Tuesday's session of the Croatian parliament's committee on local self-government, held in Lapac, Deputy Reconstruction Minister Venko Curlin said he refused the idea of the government not intending to solve issues of reconstruction and property restitution in areas mostly settled by Serbs. #L# "Administrative nonsense with reconstruction and property restitution occurs in Vukovar, Knin and Pakrac as well. Reconstruction has not been completed, property has not been returned, infrastructure not built, and the same story is heard everywhere," he said, adding that the ministry was reconstructing the country under uniform criteria. The committee held a thematic session outside of the parliament building at the invitation of a committee member and head of Donji Lapac municipality, Milan Djukic. Djukic said he did not mistrust the authorities, but wanted Lapac to be reconstructed as soon as possible, since the municipality had been completely devastated in the 1995 "Storm" operation. The session was attended by the heads of Gracac, Plitvice and Udbina municipalities, who also said that the cooperation with units of local self-government in reconstruction and property restitution was very bad. Djukic and other municipal heads said the ministry had stepped up reconstruction in said areas, but added that reconstruction had only started after the incumbent government had come into power. Curlin said that Croatia had to, by the end of 2004 and at the EU's request, solve the issue of property restitution regarding 5,000 houses, which includes the construction of new homes. Also, he said, another 4,000 facilities were included in the reconstruction project for the entire Croatia. (hina) lml sb