PARLIAMENT'S TRANSPORT COMMITTEE HOLDS SESSION IN NIJEMCI

NIJEMCI, Jan 20 (Hina) - The Croatian Parliament's transport and communications committee, on Monday held a session in the eastern Croatian village of Nijemci which the UNTAES transferred back to Croatian authorities on October 31, 1996. Under the chairmanship of Mato Arlovic, the committee discussed the development of road and railway traffic in the Croatian Danubian area. The session was attended by the Parliament's human and minorities rights committee, a deputy head of the Croatian Government's office for the UN-administrated area, Mirko Tankosic, and local officials. Tankosic notified the transport committee of political and economic aspects of the peaceful reintegration and of preparations for elections in 129 towns and villages in the Croatian area under the control of UNTAES. He announced that the Croatian Government's office for the temporary administration in the area in question would be opened in Vukovar on Tuesday. He also announced that about 15,000 retirees in the area would receive 500 kuna (about 140 German marks). He added that it was expected that Croatian public companies in the area would be re-included in the Croatian economic system by the end of February. The session also considered the opening of two pan-European roads through Croatia: a 'Danubian corridor' and a road from the Croatian port of Ploce via the eastern Croatian town of Osijek toward Budapest. The committee would persist in demands that Croatian police ensure passenger and cargo traffic in the Danubian area. They would also demand that the conditions of roads in the area be inspected in order to prepare their reconstruction, Arlovic said. The two parliamentary committees also toured the area of the municipality of Nijemci before the session. During the tour, the Jordanian UNTAES battalion's commander pledged that his battalion would ensure unimpeded traffic along roads and railway lines in the UN-administrated area. (hina) jn mš 202136 MET jan 97