PENSIONERS IN GUNJA CONCERNED WITH PENSION STATUS

GUNJA, Sept 1 (Hina) - About a hundred pensioners in Gunja (bordering with Bosnia-Herzegovina) gathered Friday to warn the authorities and Croatian public about their pension status which they consider unbearable. These are some three hundred residents of Gunja who worked and earned their pensions in the neighbouring Bosnia-Herzegovina. According to a decision by the Croatian Government, these Croatian citizens should have be given pensions by pension funds in Bosnia- Herzegovina as of this April. A representative of the Gunja retirees, Kata Bajic, said the pensioners still did not know to which pension fund in Bosnia- Herzegovina they belonged. "It seems to us that the new Government has, to put it lightly, kicked us aside as if we were not citizens or residents of Croatia," Bajic said. She added they were not to blame for having being born, educated and employed in Brcko (Bosnia-Herzegovina). A pensioner stressed the Brcko district did not have its own pension fund, thus making it probable that the pensions would be arriving from the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska. This is unfavourable as their pensions are low, he said. The retirees also wished to know about their rights to realise their health insurance in Croatia. Most of the protesters openly accused Croatian authorities for their difficult financial position and for having left them in a tight spot without monthly incomes. They agreed to forward a petition to the President, Government and Parliament warning about their situation. (hina) lml