NATIONAL TRUST ESTABLISHMENT COMMITTEE VISITS RETURNEES

( Editorial: --> 5701 ) TOVARNIK, ILACA, LOVAS, Dec 3 (Hina) - A Croatian Trust Establishment Committee delegation headed by chairwoman Vesna Skare-Ozbolt visited Tovarnik, Ilaca and Lovas (Vukovar-Srijem County, under the UN Transitional Administration) on Wednesday. The delegation held talks with officials of the local authorities and visited several families of returnees. The local officials and returnees expressed satisfaction with the "stability of the general situation in these places and the successful start of return," stressing that the process had to be accelerated by a speedy reconstruction, greater help to returnees and boosting agriculture and economy. Five families have so far returned to Tovarnik, three to Ilaca, and there were some two dozen displaced Croatians who worked in Tovarnik, but haven't yet returned to their pre-war residences in the town. Seven families have so far returned to Lovas, and 16 employers displaced from Lovas commute to the Lovas agricultural cooperative which began production. Skare-Ozbolt commended the work of local officials in the Croatian Danube river area, stressing that since the establishment of municipal councils and municipal governments, they had completed a big task to the benefit of all citizens. She added that the government would financially help the municipalities so they could continue functioning. Officials of the National Committee also visited the destroyed church in Lovas and the local cemetery where they lit candles on the site of a mass grave where 68 Croatians were buried. (hina) lm mm 031920 MET dec 97