FARMERS TO BLOCK ROADS IN PROTEST AT FAILURE TO REACH DEAL WITH GOVT

OSIJEK, March 5 (Hina) - The Association of the Farmers of Slavonia and Baranja (ZUSSB) will take action this week in five counties in Slavonia in protest at a failure to reach an agreement on the payment for the delivered agricultural produce and a failure to meet Croatian government officials and five county prefects which should have been held by the end of March. The Association's leaders told a news conference in Osijek on Tuesday that they would block roads in the counties of Osijek- Baranja, Vukovar-Sirmium, Slavonski Brod, Pozega-Slavonia and Virovitica-Drava. They are to commence the protest with obstructing the Vinkovci- Zupanja road at 10.00 am Wednesday. After that they will block the Nasice-Donji Miholjac in Osijek-County on Thursday. A day after the traffic on Podravska road will be thwarted near the town of Sladojevci in Virovitica County, the Association's head Antun Laslo told reporters. Laslo said the time and place of the protests in Pozega and Slavonski Brod counties would be subsequently determined. The Association made a decision on such protest action at Monday's session of its steering board. The protest action will take three days and be completed at 06.00 pm Sunday, March 7. After that we will give the government seven days to consider our stands, Laslo added. He announced that in case the Government fails to respond to their demands, they would continue claiming their rights in a democratic manner. Therefore, they plan to organise the next protest in Zagreb, where problems of the farmers had been created, he said. The protest action will be calm and the Association will not let it be politicised, Laslo said. He announced that a petition will be signed in support to a Croatian Television journalist Ivo Loncar, a former editor of the agricultural broadcast "Plodovi Zemlje", who "was replaced because he presented the real state of affairs in the agriculture", the farmers said. Laslo reiterated that the Association's leaders will not accept a possible invitation of the Government for talks in Zagreb, but would insist on talks with Premier Zlatko Matesa either in Osijek or at spots of the protest. We will finish protests only after we sign concrete conclusions on the payment for the delivered products with Premier Matesa or other responsible ministers, the Association's Secretary, Stanko Zdravcevic, said. (hina) ms