|
Unemployment Biggest Problem in Bosnia |
|
|
Tuesday, 22 November 2005By Celil Sagir
The first things you notice when you arrive in Saraybosna (Sarajevo) are buildings riddled with bullet holes and the countless number of graves containing the victims of the four-year war.
Though a decade has passed, everything and everyone bares the scars of war. Taxi driver, Matzich Nermin, 35, shows the scar left after a bullet passed through his neck from one side to the other; Haris Havaciya, 36, shows where a bullet grazed him just above his eyebrow. The pain for others is renewed; lawyer Seyfo Saracevic last week identified the body of his brother.
The scars are not the only remnants of the war. Everyone complains of the economic difficulties emerged as a result of the Dayton Agreement, from 50-year-old Semso Amicich to young high school student, Hamo Karich. In Bosnia, a loaf of bread costs 30 cents, minimum wage is 161 euros and unemployment tops the agenda at a rate of 40-45 percent.
The only hope of reducing the country's unemployment is through foreign investments; however, foreign investors are shying away from investing due to the failed economic reforms and the complex political structure in the country. Since 1995, Turkish businessman Ali Dokumaci, the owner of Fidan company, points at problems in undertaking new investments. The bureaucracy is allegedly encouraging a gray economy and bribery due to its chaotic structure, and businessmen, lawyers, and academics have formed a committee referred to as "Bulldozer" to fight bureaucratic obstacles.
The lack of foreign investments foments the foreign trade deficit, the biggest threat to the economy. The deficit was announced at 49.9 percent of gross national income last year. Since 1995, only $1.6 billion of foreign investment has came into the country, where hopes of taking steps to normalize with the help of the changes made in line with the Dayton Agreement and the positive atmosphere formed as a result of the Stability and Partnership agreement made with the European Union. Another Turkish businessman Gurkan Yayla says they are continuing to search for investment opportunities in Sarajevo.
Everyone agrees that positive economic developments will help to bring peace to society after the war that caused the deaths of nearly 250,000 people, and the point that has so far been reached has been described as "cold peace".
On the streets of Sarajevo, some of the views being voiced suggest politicians and the media foment tension in the country. Former Serbian politician, Bogic Bogicevich, says the nationalist parties in power and the media campaigns hamper reconciliation among the people. He accuses them of being the instigators.
Steps taken after the Srebrenica massacre, handing over war criminals to be tried at the War Tribune in The Hague, and the trial of criminals at the court of Bosnia-Herzegovina as a part of law reforms are being interpreted as significant developments towards social peace. On the day we arrived at the capital, a live television broadcast showed the return of former the Bosnian Chief of General Staff, Sefer Halilovich who was found not guilty of war crimes and released by The Hague Court.
On the other hand, Serbian leaders Radovan Karadzich and Ratko Mladich, the ringleaders in the Srebrenica massacre remain at large, creating outraging Bosnians. Bosnian Missing Committee Chair Amur Masovich says their emotional scars will take a long time to heal. "Ten thousand people are still missing. Only eleven thousand of the 18,000 bodies found have been identified. Seven thousands still await identification. The changes in the Daytona [Agreement] do not change the reality that 40 mass graves are still waiting to be unearthed."
Saraybosna (Sarajevo)
Source: Zaman
22 November 2005 |
Tuesday, 22 November 2005
By Celil Sagir
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MOST VISITED NEWS (DAILY) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
