US AGENCIES TO HELP RECONSTRUCT HRVATSKA KOSTAJNICA

HRVATSKA KOSTAJNICA, July 17 (Hina) - The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the town of Hrvatska Kostajnica, on Tuesday signed a memorandum on understanding under which the US administration would offer assistance in the reconstruction of the infrastructure and houses and in the recovery of the economy of this war-hit Croatian area in the valley of the Una River. The memorandum was signed by US Ambassador to Croatia, Lawrence Rossin, the head of the USAID mission in Croatia, Pamela Baldwin, and Hrvatska Kostajnica Mayor Davor Govorcinovic. USAID will invest about one million US dollars in renovating the local infrastructure such as the water supply system and power grid. Hrvatska Kostajnica mayor and the American Refugee Committee (ARC) signed an agreement on the reconstruction of 30 war-devastated houses and for this purpose USA will earmark 255,000 US dollars. US Ambassador Rossin said he was happy about his country's intention of assisting in the recovery of this Croatian area as this would help normalisation of life. The US Administration is offering significant assistance in the reconstruction of war-stricken Croatian regions thorough USAID's programmes. The USAID is helping reconstruct some 15 municipalities and towns, Rossin said. On behalf of the Croatian government, an assistant to the public works and reconstruction minister, Lovre Pejkovic, and the head of the government's office for cooperation with OSCE, Tomislav Vidosevic, thanked the US Embassy, Administration and relief agencies. Vidosevic described the cooperation of local communities and the international community as a path towards development and the construction of civil society as the basis for political stability, Vidosevic said. (hina) ms