ROUND TABLE ON RETURN ISSUES HELD IN TOPUSKO

TOPUSKO, Feb 27 (Hina) - A round table was organised in Topusko on Wednesday to address refugee returns to and development in formerly war-affected areas, requirements for reconstruction in the Topusko municipality, and humanitarian and non-governmental organisations' reconstruction programmes for the Topusko area. The round table was organised by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission's regional office in Petrinja. Sisak-Moslavina prefect Djuro Brodarac thanked the representatives of international humanitarian organisations for their assistance. He pointed to the need of stepping up and improving cooperation between international organisations and local authorities so as to avoid having international organisations help Serb refugees while Croatian returnees and Bosnian Croat settlers receive no assistance. Cooperation between the government and international and non- governmental humanitarian and development-oriented organisations has been successful, said Lovre Pejkovic, the assistant minister for public works and reconstruction. To date Croatia has rebuilt 105,000 houses with 10.5 billion kuna (EUR1.41 billion) and plans on rebuilding another 39,000, said Pejkovic. The number of houses which are still occupied by refugees is 9,000 and restitution requests have been filed for 3,900. Ninety-five percent of 19,000 Bosnian Croat refugees decline to return to pre-war homes in Bosnia and wish to settle in Croatia permanently. Croatia will help them in this by ensuring land and construction material for house-building, he explained. Also participating in the round table were representatives of the Public Works and Reconstruction Ministry, the government's regional office for cooperation with international organisations from Sisak, Sisak-Moslavina County, the town of Glina, the municipalities of Dvor, Vojnic, and Gvozd, the Japanese and German embassies, and many humanitarian and non-governmental organisations. (hina) ha sb