ZAGREB, Oct 16 (Hina) - The Croatian government on Thursday adopted more measures to facilitate the return of refugees, entrusting relevant bodies to speed up the purchase of vacant houses and flats, expediting court proceedings to
evict temporary occupants, and ensuring a speedier delivery of construction material and electrification.
ZAGREB, Oct 16 (Hina) - The Croatian government on Thursday adopted
more measures to facilitate the return of refugees, entrusting
relevant bodies to speed up the purchase of vacant houses and flats,
expediting court proceedings to evict temporary occupants, and
ensuring a speedier delivery of construction material and
electrification. #L#
The government formulated said measures after adopting a report on
the return of refugees in the past three and a half years. According
to the report, 81,000 refugees have returned to Croatia in said
period, of which 57 percent are Serbs and 43 percent are Croats.
There are no more Croat displaced people, Reconstruction Minister
Radimir Cacic said explaining the percentages.
The minister said that since 2000, during the mandate of the
incumbent government, more than 28,000 houses and flats had been
rebuilt, some 15,000 housing units had been returned to their
owners, and almost 5,000 families had been provided with
alternative accommodation, while another 1,200 families had been
given construction material to rebuild their houses in Bosnia-
Herzegovina.
According to the report, 4.7 billion kuna has been invested into the
reconstruction of houses and flats since 2000.
A total of 8,000 houses and flats are being reconstructed this year.
The reconstruction of another 9,000 houses and flats started in
September.
Occupied property is being restituted, while some 4,300 flats and
houses remain occupied, mostly by refugees from Bosnia-
Herzegovina.
Over the last twelve months, 5,320 flats and houses were returned to
their owners, and one half of that figure was returned this year.
The Reconstruction Ministry has been entrusted by the government to
name temporary representatives for the occupied property of those
owners who have not claimed it back.
The minister said that 945 eviction procedures were underway, but
that nobody would be thrown in the street.
Cacic said that the government would bear the largest share of the
financial burden of reconstruction. Some 25.2 billion kuna has been
spent for that purpose in the past ten years, and foreign funds
account only for 15 percent of all reconstruction funds, he said.
1 EUR = 7.59 kuna
(hina) rml sb