BARIC REPORTS ON PROGRESS OF MINE-DISPOSAL OPERATIONS

ZAGREB, Sept 4 (Hina) - The commander of mine-disposal units in the Serb-held Danube river area of eastern Croatia, Major General Slavko Baric, said on Wednesday that the Centre for Mine-Disposal Operations had made it possible for Croatian public companies to start work in six villages in the area. In the next ten days, the villages of Lipovac, Apsevci, Podgrade, Nijemci, Donje Novo Selo and Ceric would get the infrastructure they needed for the return of displaced people, Baric told reporters in Zagreb after a meeting of the Coordination of Public Companies for the issues of the Danubian area. Since the beginning of the demining process on July 1, in Lipovac 23 hectares of land and 184 houses have been cleared of mines; in Apsevci and Podgrad 23 hectares, 134 houses and all streets and access roads; in Ceric, where the mine-disposal operation began only a few days ago, about six hectares, a dozen houses and all streets and access roads have be demined, while in Nijemci and Donje Novo Selo a dozen houses and streets have been cleared of mines. Baric said that 135 houses in Lipovac, Podgrade and Apsevci had been turned over to the Ministry of Reconstruction and Development for rebuilding. A two-km stretch of the Osijek-Beli Manastir railway has also been cleared of mines, together with power transmission pylons on the right bank of the Drava river and a ferry passage at Belisce. The Western Slavonia villages of Kusonje and Brusnik, which had a majority Serb population before the war, have also been cleared of mines. "Thus we have made it possible for a part of Serbs to return to those villages under a UNHCR project," Baric said. Baric said that 645 people were involved in mine-disposal operations, adding that a total of 14,391 hectares of land in Slavonia and Baranja had been demined since 1992. Asked about the mine-disposal process in the Djeletovci oil field, which was being carried out by the local Serb TNT company, Buric said that it was making good progress and that the process was being monitored by Croatian authorities. Baric recalled that about 76,000 hectares of land in the Danubian area had yet to be cleared of mines and that at the moment Croatia did not have enough people for that job. He said that qualified people from the area could participate in mine- disposal operations. "We are discussing the possibility of local companies demining Bilje, Ernestinovo, Kopacevo and Divos," Baric said and added: "I think we will reach an agreement on local Serbs and their companies working along with our companies." (hina) vm 042010 MET sep 96