UNHCR DISMISSES "VIJESNIK" ARTICLE AS NOT TRUE

( Editorial: --> 4413 ) ZAGREB, Sept 30 (Hina) - The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has never granted assistance in the form of money but only in the form of reconstruction material, and it notifies the Croatian authorities about its projects even though it is not obliged to do so, UNHCR Mission spokesman Andrej Mahecic said on Wednesday, denying the authenticity of data presented in the daily "Vjesnik". The UNHCR spokesman stated this at a press conference held by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), UNHCR and the UN Civil Police Support Group. In its Monday article, headlined "UNHCR Helps Reconstruction of Serb Houses Without Prior Consultations With Croatian Authorities", the daily says that the UNHCR has financially assisted the reconstruction of 193 Serb houses in the Sibenik-Knin area without the knowledge of local authorities. Because of this, local authorities have to check whether people who received the assistance had already been granted loans by the Croatian Government, the daily maintains. According to Mahecic, the assistance is granted in amounts which are in line with the Croatian Law on Reconstruction of March 1996. All beneficiaries have to sign contracts binding them to relinquish their rights to reconstruction assistance from the Government, he added. "This year, 177 houses were reconstructed in the Knin area and we have no knowledge of cases of double assistance which worries local authorities," Mahecic said. Of all the houses reconstructed, 10-15 per cent are owned by Croats. Mahecic explained the huge discrepancy between the number of Croat and Serb houses saying the Croatian Government started reconstructing houses immediately after the "Storm" operation , so that many homes had already been reconstructed by 1997, when UNHCR started implementing its programme. (hina) jn rml /sp 302151 MET sep 98