TRUST ESTABLISHMENT COMMITEE DELEGATION VISITS BELI MANASTIR

( Editorial: --> 7879 ) BELI MANASTIR, 28 Jan (Hina) - A delegation of the National Committee for the Establishment of Trust, headed by its president Vesna Skare-Ozbolt, held talks with Beli Manastir Mayor Veljko Bertic on Wednesday. Talks focused on the two-way return and reconstruction of the economy, especially of the agricultural plant 'Belje', one of Croatia's biggest pre-war food producers. Bertic spoke of "frequent incidents and threats directed to citizens of Serb nationality", adding he had 93 documented cases. The town secretary Josip Kompanovic told the delegation that 700 houses in Beli Manastir had been inspected and that 400 of them were empty and could receive displaced people in spring at the latest. The view of the Housing Issues Commission has been accepted and every house will be considered empty if it is not occupied by a family or an individual for 15 days or more, he added. Out of 210 Serb families from Beli Manastir who participated in an opinion poll, 68 said they wanted to return to their previous places of residence, 86 wanted to sell their property and leave Croatia and 56 families wanted to stay. In the last three months, 110 Serb families left Beli Manastir. Stressing that incidents did not have political background, but were rather an expression of dissatisfaction by individuals, Skare-Ozbolt said it was necessary to work together on the two-way return and the reconstruction of houses and the economy. The Government has taken a set of measures aimed at reconstructing the economy in Baranja, which was and will again be Croatia's granary, Skare-Ozbolt said. (hina) mm rm 281951 MET jan 98