ZAGREB, May 4 (Hina) - According to data by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Croatia loses about 200 million dollars yearly due to mines planted on the arable land. It has been established that mines have
been left at almost 1,500 square kilometres in Croatia, and according to some estimations, mines have been strewn on additional two to four thousand square kilometres, said representatives of mine clearance companies at a news conference in Zagreb on Tuesday. Twelve authorised companies in Croatia are doing this job, and they have about 300 employees and some 50 members of the Croatian Interior Ministry and the Army. Their representatives told the conference that such companies had big problems since they are not paid regularly by the state and therefore their salaries do not come in time. They also warned of the unfair competition due to various dubious firms which emplo
ZAGREB, May 4 (Hina) - According to data by the United Nations Food
and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Croatia loses about 200
million dollars yearly due to mines planted on the arable land.
It has been established that mines have been left at almost 1,500
square kilometres in Croatia, and according to some estimations,
mines have been strewn on additional two to four thousand square
kilometres, said representatives of mine clearance companies at a
news conference in Zagreb on Tuesday.
Twelve authorised companies in Croatia are doing this job, and they
have about 300 employees and some 50 members of the Croatian
Interior Ministry and the Army.
Their representatives told the conference that such companies had
big problems since they are not paid regularly by the state and
therefore their salaries do not come in time.
They also warned of the unfair competition due to various dubious
firms which employ pyrotechnists illegally and thus reduce the
price of clearing mines. The quality of work done by such firms is
questionable and their employees have no right in the case of
accident.
The mine clearance in Croatia has so far claimed lives of six
pyrotechnists, whereas three have sustained injuries.
The owners and directors of the mine clearance companies are also
dissatisfied with the work of foreign firms which usually get the
best and easiest jobs in Croatia via foreign relief agencies.
The coordination of the 12 Croatian companies advocates that these
firms should be exempt from paying the Value Added Tax (VAT). The
VAT raised the price of mine removal by 22 percent, they stressed.
(hina) jn ms