The conditions in which the Rožaj Assembly has been working for about a decade are extremely bad and unworthy of the function it performs, according to opposition councilors in the local parliament.
Apart from the fact that decisions in the interest of citizens' quality of life are made in benches that look like school ones, the reading room of the city library where the assembly sessions are held is extremely cramped, and uncomfortably cold in winter.
The president of the club of SDP councilors, Idriz Nurković, said that for the last few years, money in the budget was set aside to solve that problem, but that item was deleted in the rebalance.
"I don't know for what reason, money is found for everything, but not for improving the conditions in which councilors work. As if it was some kind of premeditated sabotage," said Nurković.
He believes that the hall where the sessions of the Municipal Assembly are held does not have the basic conditions for "normal sessions".
"It's narrow, cramped, so it's impossible to create a decent seating arrangement. So SDP councilors have the worst treatment, we are handicapped, placed in the last row. It is difficult for us to follow the speakers, and often the chairman does not see when our councilors come to speak, so we do it two or three times. When we have several guests at the meeting, we have to get up so they can pass," said Nurković.
"Improvised" heating, according to him, causes an additional problem.
"The hall is mostly cold, and when the heating is turned on, we can hardly hear ourselves because of the noise. "A local parliament should not allow such working conditions," believes Nurković.
Other technical conditions are also missing, he points out.
"Several times we have asked for one hour to be set so that councilors have an orientation on how much time they still have to speak. This is how minutes are measured by the President of the Assembly, so there are often those who believe that they are deprived. On several occasions, we also initiated the procurement of laptops for councilors to use on the reverse side. For example, we received the 132-page Development Strategy, which we will discuss this week, in electronic form. Many people do not have the opportunity to look at it that way, so they have to find ways to get to it in order to prepare for the debate," said Nurković, who added that such a situation is unsustainable and that it must be changed urgently "so that the parliament can normally to function".
"This is how we get the impression that it is about obstruction and that the current situation is being kept on purpose so that the councilors would not be able to work properly," said Nurković.
Bosniak Party member Osman Nurković shares the opinion of his opposition colleague. He believes that the conditions in which the sessions of the Rožaj parliament are held "are very bad and do not provide even the minimum of opportunities for normal work".
"I can freely say that a more serious local community has better conditions for gathering and holding sessions... For the normal work of the parliament, first of all, a space that will be heated in these winter conditions is needed, because what is being done is violence against the councilors and I believe, an attempt by the authorities to make the discussions last as short as possible", assessed Nurković.
He believes that, in addition to more space for the accommodation and movement of councilors, various technical aids are also needed, which are "a condition for normal work".
"Such conditions for the work of the parliament are evidence of the lack of seriousness of the authorities, which for years promised and announced the construction of an annex next to the existing municipal building, in which a space - a hall for the work of the local parliament - would be built. Unfortunately, it remained a dead letter like many promises that this government did not fulfill. I hope that from spring, and that he will, he will no longer be in a situation to do anything, because he will be in the well-deserved opposition, and that will be done by someone more serious and responsible," said Nurković.
The president of the DPS councilors' club, Ruždija Kalač, said that the conditions under which the local parliament sits are "as they are - the same for all councilors".
"We are aware that they are not at a high level, that they need to be improved, which will be done when the material prerequisites for this are created. In the years of the economic crisis, the councilors of the ruling party (DPS) believed that it was better to direct the available money to projects that the citizens are interested in, than to make politicians uncomfortable. Day by day, we work to create better conditions for the lives of all of us, so it will be the turn of the assembly hall, in which it is necessary to invest significant funds", said Kalač.
Reporters write on their knees
It is not only the councilors of the Rožaj Assembly who are in a bad position in their hall. Even worse than the councilors, who at least have desks in front of them, are media representatives who don't even have a pad to write on, but have to keep notebooks in which they take notes on their laps.
Also, the reporters are forced to stand up every now and then, if anyone wants to pass by where they are sitting.
Gallery
Bonus video:
