200 homes for refugees to be built in nine Serbian municipalities – Project value EUR 13m

According to the Serbian government's web site, contracts with nine towns and municipalities of Serbia were signed yesterday in Stara Pazova, where 200 apartments for refugees will be built as part of the second sub-project of the Regional Housing Programme of the Republic of Serbia.

Construction contracts were signed with nine municipalities: Šid, Sremska Mitrovica, Šabac, Kruševac, Prokuplje, Paraćin, Kikinda, Bajina Bašta i Vršac

At a press conference, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Serbian Government and Minister for foreign affairs, Ivica Dačić, pointed out that the value of this sub-project is over EUR 13m, and that it envisages construction of 120 prefabricated houses, 300 sets of building materials and a purchase of 250 rural houses.

He explained that the Regional Housing Programme is a multi-annual joint programme of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia, aiming to provide permanent housing solutions for about 27,000 of the most vulnerable refugee families, for 74,000 people in the region. The First Deputy Prime Minister said that out of these, 16,780 families or 45,000 people are in Serbia, adding that the Regional Housing Programme of the Republic of Serbia will be carried out in the next five years through a number of sub-projects.

He recalled that half of the EUR 584m needed to carry our this programme was collected at a fund-raising conference in Sarajevo.

Dačić said that the Regional Housing Programme is a continuation of the previous joint efforts of the partner countries and the international community, and that it confirms the commitment of these countries to put an end to regional displacement by providing permanent housing solutions.

He added that with the support of the European Union, the US Government, UNHCR and OSCE, the Regional Housing Programme Fund was established to collect donations, and is managed by the Council of Europe Development Bank.

The head of the EU delegation to Serbia, Michael Davenport, stressed that the entire region will have financial, political and any other support to finalise problems of refugees housing, for which the EU has already donated 230 mill EUR. Davenport appealed to all project participants, countries of the region and international institutions to speed up administrative procedures.

Commissioner for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia, Vladimir Cucić, said that until now 14,500 refugee families have been accommodated, and about 20,000 have been economically strengthened, with funding from the Serbian budget and donations.

The Chief US Deputy Assistant Secretary for population, refugees and migration, Saymond Hensho, said that further support to the programme will depend upon realization, as the USA has already invested USD 20m.

Translation provided by: www.halifax-translation.com