SABOR COMMITTEE SUPPORTS GOVT DECISION ON SUPPLEMENTS FOR BH PENSIONERS

ZAGREB, Oct 13 (Hina) - The House of Representatives' Committee on Immigrants on Friday supported the Government's decision on drawing up a law granting supplements for pensioners who earned the right to pension in Bosnia-Herzegovina and are now residing in Croatia. The committee proposed that the law be adopted in urgent procedure and that until its going into force the government secure financial assistance for the pensioners from the revised budget or current reserves. "This is the least protected category of population in Europe because it has no income and does not receive any assistance," the committee's head Milan Kovac said. A total of 20,560 BH pensioners reside in Croatia, of whom mostly those from Mostar and Sarajevo are receiving pensions, whereas in Republika Srpska only pensioners living on the territory of Bosnian Serb entity are receiving pensions, the committee said. Following Monday's talks between representatives from the Labour and Welfare Ministry and pensioners' associations from north- western Bosnia-Herzegovina, the government decided to adopt a law granting supplements for BH pensioners as their allowances are extremely low because of the difficult economic situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina. (hina) jn rml