HIGH REPRESENTATIVE EXTENDS DEADLINE FOR REPOSSESSION OF FLATS

( Editorial: --> 0579 ) SARAJEVO, Sept 15 (Hina) - The deadline for pre-war tenants of socially-owned flats in the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina to reclaim those flats has been extended for another six months, in line with a decision by High Representative Carlos Westendorp, a spokesman for the Office of the High Representative (OHR) said Tuesday. According to a decision of the Federation Parliament, which is still effective, all refugees who lived in socially-owned flats and abandoned them during the war, were able to file repossession claims by October 4. According to the decision, repossession claims had to be confirmed within a period of 30 days, OHR spokesman Simon Haselock told reporters in Sarajevo. On September 19, the High Representative informed the Federation Prime Minister Edhem Bicakcic of his decision, which is to go into force on September 15. Westendorp's decision means that it will be possible to file repossession claims with municipal bodies until April 4, 1999. In a letter to Prime Minister Bicakcic, Westendorp said his decision was prompted by numerous problems encountered in the implementation of the Parliament decision and by the fact that less than 50% of pre-war tenants had managed to file repossession claims. International representatives who monitored the process have come to the conclusion that municipal authorities were slow in responding to repossession claims and in some cases did not even try to return flats to their pre-war tenants. The six-month deadline set by Parliament law has actually been consumed in attempts to establish a fair system for filing repossession claims, Westendorp said in his letter to Bicakcic. The Federation authorities have been requested to secure all technical preconditions for a speedier implementation of the law on the return of flats to their pre-war tenants in all municipalities. In his letter Westendorp stresses the case of the north-western Bosnian town of Drvar and Mostar's central zone, which did not even have commissions with whom refugees could file repossession claims. (hina) rml 151623 MET sep 98