On Friday, May 28, 2021 the Opening Conference of the project “Upgrading of the waste management public service capacities in cross border region” was held in Sremska Mitrovica.
The leading partner in the project is the Provincial Secretariat for Urbanism and Environmental Protection, and the partners are: the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology of the Republic of Srpska from Banja Luka, the Republic Administration for Inspection Affairs, the Inspectorate of the Republic of Srpska from Banja Luka and the Public Research Institute. protection and ecology of Republika Srpska from Banja Luka.
The project started with the realization on April 5, 2021 and will last for 18 months. The total budget of the project is 516,938.13 EUR, and the co-financing of the EU (IPA) fund is 84.99% or a maximum of 439,345.71 EUR. The main goal of the project is to improve sustainable environmental planning by improving the public service (administration, inspection and supervision system) related to solid waste and wastewater management.
The conference was opened by Brankica Tabak, Undersecretary of the Provincial Secretariat for Urbanism and Environmental Protection
“I am extremely glad, because I believe that by October 2022, the benefits of increasing capacity at many levels will be expressed, better work will be possible because the topic of waste and waste management carries with it a certain supervision which is a serious job, including our inspections, the department that is here in Sremska Mitrovica, which will seem to me to have the most benefits and satisfaction to participate in this project and give its contribution”, said Undersecretary Tabak.
After that, Svjetlana Radusin, Assistant Minister for Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology of the Republic of Srpska, addressed the audience.
“This is a project of exceptional importance for the Republika Srpska, which will enable the Republika Srpska to strengthen institutions in the public sector, and for us it is especially important because these are two media that are just beginning to be regulated in the RS, and that is waste and wastewater management. Through this project, we will get a laboratory, ie to strengthen the scientific institution that deals with scientific work in the RS in this field of environmental protection, and the Republic Inspection, and these are the two institutions that we in the Ministry in charge of environmental protection we rely on a large part of our work, “said Ms. Radusin.
Dragan Mijović, Assistant Director, Chief Republican Urban Planning, Construction and Environmental Inspector of the Republic Administration for Inspection Affairs, the Inspectorate of the Republika Srpska, pointed out on that occasion “This project will not only contribute to upgrading the capacity of public waste management services in the cross-border region, but will be a continuation of successful cooperation with the institutions of the Provincial Government for the institutions of the Republika Srpska.”
“We expect that this project, in addition to providing technical equipment to improve the work of inspection bodies, through the exchange of professional experiences with colleagues from Vojvodina in practice will enable the application of the law and contribute to raising awareness of the importance of waste management, especially in the cross-border region “,emphasized Mijović .
Predrag Ilić, director of the Public Scientific Research Institution of the Institute for Protection and Ecology of the Republic of Srpska, also addressed the audience at the opening conference.
“Unfortunately, IPA funds are often unused opportunities in our country, and we often do not even dare to apply and participate, but with the support of the Provincial Secretariat for Urbanism and Environmental Protection, we also had great benefits, the largest of which is in Republika Srpska. and Bosnia and Herzegovina to establish the first hazardous waste analysis laboratory. ”
Presentation of the project and activities of the leading partner was addressed by Nemanja Erceg, acting Assistant Provincial Secretary for Urbanism and Environmental Protection, Project Manager
For the other presentation of the partner’s activities, the following spoke: Svetlana Topic, Senior Expert Associate for Waste Management at the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology of Republika Srpska, Banja Luka, Dragan Nikolic, Inspector at the Republic Administration for Inspection Affairs, Inspectorate of Republika Srpska, Banja Luka and Predrag Ilić, director of the Public Scientific Research Institution of the Institute for Protection and Ecology of the Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka.
