The past year in the Municipality of Kakanj was marked by many successfully implemented projects, as well as commendable activities of the mayor and municipal services. We talked with Mirnes Bajtarević, the mayor of Kakanj Municipality, about the projects, work and functioning of the Municipality of Kakanj in 2022, business and economic environment, characteristics and allocations from this year’s Budget, and many other topics.
Significant investments
NR: Which projects implemented in the year behind us would you single out, and are you, in general, satisfied with the work and functioning of the Municipality of Kakanj in 2022?
BAJTAREVIĆ: Considering the challenges with which we entered the year 2022, primarily with COVID-19, but also with the terrible rampage of prices due to the war in Ukraine, some things were normalized during the year and allowed the smooth operation of the administrative bodies. All employees and departments gave their best in their work and fully dedicated themselves to our fellow citizens and their requests. Throughout the year, we had significant investments. Some of the biggest projects are the completion of the traffic road from the Seventh Muslim Knight Liberation Brigade Street to the Municipal Court building, the signing of the contract and the start of the construction of the bridge in Modrinje, the procurement of a new ski lift in Ponijeri, numerous projects of reconstruction and construction of local roads, several waterworks (Kučići, Zagrađe, Ričica), adoption of the Kakanj Municipality Development Strategy, continuation of incentives for the economy and agriculture, strong support for sports, pupils, students, pensioners…
NR: How would you rate life and the business and economic environment in Kakanj municipality?
BAJTAREVIĆ: I think that life was more difficult for all our fellow citizens last year compared to the previous period, both because of COVID and because of the enormous increase in the prices of everything on the market. For this reason, the municipality of Kakanj has designed some new benefits and incentive programs to help people, especially when starting their own businesses, and in activities to preserve jobs. We are pleased with the good trend of increasing the number of employed Kakanja men and women in the past few years, and the decrease in the number of people on the records of the Employment Service. However, the continued departure of young people of working age outside of Bosnia and Herzegovina is also a cause for concern. Existing companies in Kakanj strengthened their businesses, several new companies were opened, a certain number of new workers were employed… Compared to 2020, the number of unemployed is lower by 519, and the total number of employed people from Kakanj and Kakanj is 8,805.
BAJTAREVIĆ:
In accordance with the law, public companies have until June 30. to submit their reports to the Municipal Council for consideration and adoption, so we still do not know how they operated. However, we have information that despite the increase in the price of everything, they managed to properly settle their obligations, primarily towards workers and suppliers. When it comes to the quality of services, in the environment in which they work and based on the equipment they use, we think that they perform the entrusted duties correctly.
In 2022, 69 road routes will be built or reconstructed
NR: In 2022, you implemented works on the reconstruction of road infrastructure worth more than 3 million KM. How many road infrastructure rehabilitation projects have been completed, and what are your plans for this year?
BAJTAREVIĆ: When it comes to investments in road infrastructure, during 2022, 69 road routes were built or reconstructed in the area of the entire municipality of Kakanj. It is about different lengths and sections. Some road routes have been started and we plan to continue construction this year. Certainly, the most important project is the traffic road that leads through the narrowest part of the city, from the Seventh Muslim Knights’ Liberation Brigade Street to the Municipal Court building. A large part of these extensive works was carried out in the Kakan villages because we believe that we must pay extra attention to the villages in order to improve them infrastructurally, which is one of the prerequisites for the population to remain in rural areas. Already in the first days of spring, we continue with numerous projects, and after the adoption of the spending program, we continue with public procurement procedures for new road routes.
Characteristics of this year’s Budget
NR: At the end of December, the Budget of the Municipality of Kakanj for 2023 was adopted in the amount of 33,861,263.71 KM. What are the biggest allocations planned for?
BAJTAREVIĆ: In 2022, we offered the Kakanj Municipality Budget to the Municipal Council in the amount of 27,410,533.66 KM. After that, during the year we had six changes to the budget (rebalancing) and each time with an increase in income thanks to the funds allocated by the ZDK Government headed by then Prime Minister Mirnes Bašić and the Government of the Federation of BiH. These funds have been allocated for several significant capital projects in Kakanj. At the last rebalancing, that budget amounted to 34,445,057.98 KM. We entered the year 2023 with a slightly lower Budget, but we expect that it will also grow, considering the estimates we have about trends in revenue growth. What is important for this budget is the treasury operations of our public institutions within the budget, which ensures smooth operation and the settlement of obligations of the Preschool Education “Mladost”, the Culture and Sports Center and the Center for Social Work. Also, this budget includes part of the projects carried over from 2022. Again, a significant part of the funds is earmarked for assistance to vulnerable categories, incentives for the economy and agriculture, Kakanese students and pupils, veterans’ organizations, athletes, children with developmental difficulties, non-governmental organizations, young people…
NR: Will you continue with positive trends – support for the development of entrepreneurship, issuance of funds for incentives in agriculture, support for pupils, students, sports, young people, people in a state of social need,… and how much money is planned in the Budget for these purposes?
BAJTAREVIĆ: The municipality of Kakanj has had the best incentive measures in agriculture and economy for years. And this year, we allocated about one million KM for these purposes. We are in contact with our businessmen and farmers and will create our incentive programs accordingly. We also pay great attention to athletes and adequate sports development of young people. This year, KM 770,000.00 was allocated for sports, plus free use of indoor facilities for indoor sports. During the year, we will have a public call for projects of youth and other non-governmental organizations. We allocated 50,000.00 KM to help couples who have problems with conceiving offspring through co-financing of biomedical assisted fertilization. We also co-finance children’s stay in Kakan kindergartens for certain categories. We also provide assistance to the citizens of Kakanj through interest refunds on housing loans or for paying the costs of obtaining building permits. We allocate significant funds for scholarships for several different scholarship programs.
There was no increase in utility prices
NR: And this year, instead of the music star, you diverted the money for the New Year’s celebration to pensioners. What amount is involved, and how will this money be allocated to senior citizens?
BAJTAREVIĆ: This is not something new in our Kakanj. We have been doing it for years, so my predecessors Nermin Mandra and Aldin Šljivo carried out this practice and I continued it. We talk to our citizens and allocate funds accordingly. This year, we have estimated that it is more expedient and necessary to direct the money intended for New Year’s Eve to some of the vulnerable categories, such as pensioners with the lowest incomes. We have a grant for pensioners and we regularly execute it. This time we increased that amount and allocated 45,000.00 KM for the Kakan Association of Pensioners. We expect that a significant part of these funds will go to pensioners with the lowest pensions to help pay utility bills. We will definitely monitor the situation and expect to increase this transfer in one of the rebalances during the year.
NR: In addition to price increases that have affected all citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina, are the citizens of Kakanj additionally burdened by price increases for certain “utilities”?
BAJTAREVIĆ: In the past year, significant increases in the prices of all goods were evident due to the global crisis caused by the events in Ukraine. This certainly affected the purchasing power of our fellow citizens. As for Kakanj public companies and the services they provide, during 2022 there was no increase in the prices of water delivery, heating and waste removal services. We expect the submission of reports on the operations of public companies and calculations on possible changes in operations in terms of increased costs or inability to meet obligations and information on whether this will affect price changes.
