What's it like in "Serbian Siberia": Emergency situation in force, roads blocked because of debt

Photo: RINA

The municipality of Sjenica declared an emergency situation on December 9 due to a large amount of snow. As mayor Munib Mujagic explains, the reason behind the decision is of a financial nature.

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"The emergency situation is still in force. We did not close schools, this only concerns the passability of roads. The decision to introduce an emergency situation was forced on us due to the overall financial situation and the financial blockade of the public company for land development that maintains local and uncategorized roads. The company's account has been blocked because it is over 200 million dinars in debt," Mujagic told Telegraf.rs.

He added that the public company (JP) has a modest fleet of machines with which it cannot clear all the snow deposits, so it is forced to hire private companies, which now do not want to accept the job because they do not know when they will be paid.

"We don't intend to lift the emergency situation in the near future, in order to avoid having to sit down every time it snows. We have needs and obligations that we must meet and we've agreed that the municipality will help clear municipal roads in order to overcome the problem and so that citizens don't feel the consequences," the mayor stressed.

As Aleksandra Cukanovic, who lives with her family in an isolated house in a village near Sjenica, told Telegraf.rs yesterday, the roads that are not a priority are completely covered with snow, so children cannot get to school.

"They didn't go to school because of the snow, we are completely cut off. All four children are students. I carried one through the snow on my back, another in my arms. We reached halfway and came back. I couldn't do it anymore. The school is about 10 kilometers away," said the mother.

(Telegraf.rs)