The Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Aleksandar Martinović, PhD, has visited the bridges on the Jadar River today in Osečina and the flooded areas in the village of Bastav and the town of Pecka. Damage to the road infrastructure, due to heavy rainfall and overflowing rivers, was estimated at approximately RSD 300 million, and as Minister Martinović pointed out, the corn crops only have suffered damage in excess of RSD 8 million.
“In previous years, the State had invested significant funds in flood defence. In Osečina, part of the Jadar River bed was regulated and a retaining wall was built, which now prevented the water from spilling into the surrounding residential buildings. There is simply no absolute defence against this amount of precipitation, but if it weren’t for those investments, the damage would be significantly greater in this municipality today,” Martinović has emphasized.
He has said that ministers perform daily visits to cities and municipalities where natural disasters have been declared, in order to familiarize themselves with initial damage assessments in the field, in direct conversation with local leadership and citizens, after which a final cross-section of the situation will be made and problem solving shall commence.
“The Government of the Republic of Serbia shall provide aid to Osečina, as well as to all other local self-governments which were hit by floods, in repairing the damage as soon as possible. It is especially important for citizens whose houses have been damaged to rest assured that they will be compensated for all the damage,” Martinović has said.
The Minister has thanked the President of the Municipality of Osečina, Nikola Tomić, and his associates for being on the ground from the first day and for putting all the municipal infrastructure into the function of helping the citizens, and announced that the Government of the Republic of Serbia, together with the competent public enterprises, following the rehabilitation of the infrastructure and repair of damage, shall undertake additional measures in the field concerning flood risk reduction, in case this situation happens again.
Photo gallery – source: MDULS
