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By: Florian Münkle
Municipal government in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is the closest to and
most common interface for the citizens of this country. From road works to marriage
documents – the 149 municipalities in BiH enjoy competencies in a wide range
of affairs, and their citizens depend on them for accurate, timely and adequate
decisions and conduct of business.
While many municipalities are generally doing a great job, sometimes there
is still room for improvement. Citizens occasionally wonder why their municipality
takes a particular decision, and why it does not carry out other tasks deemed
more urgent by the locals. Road works are a popular example. Peripheral parts
of municipal territory sometimes tend to be neglected even when their infrastructure
is in dire need of repair, while central parts of a municipality are given more
attention by local authorities.
One way of bringing attention to the needs of all levels of a municipality
to the authorities is to revitalise local communities. In Trebinje Municipality,
Zdravko Mrkonja, a long-time resident, has been actively involved in the establishment
of local communities, otherwise known as districts. “Municipalities should be
organised in a way that is most suitable to meet the needs of its population.
Local communities can make an important contribution in making the local authorities
aware of the situation in all parts of the municipality,” says Mrkonja. For
example, “If you believe that a particular road needs to be repaired, you can
tell your local councillors, and they can lobby the responsible municipal bodies.”
Trebinje has been a pioneering town with respect to the establishment of local
communities. The town’s municipal territory consists of 18 local communities,
which elect their own local councils - with five to nine councillors each –
in 2002. These councillors are required to be in constant contact with both
the citizenry and the municipal authorities and ensure that the perspectives
of all local communities are taken into account when decisions are made on the
municipal level. This improved representation has already shown some positive
results in Trebinje.
“People living in the local community of Lastva, which is some 12 kilometres
from Trebinje’s town centre, do not have to come to the centre any more just
to fill out a form or to get a document – citizens can now handle many things
in the office that was established in Lastva,” said Mrkonja.
Dusan Kolak believes that the introduction of local communities in Trebinje
is one of the most successful achievements in Trebinje municipality. Kolak has
been working as Head of the General Administration Department of Trebinje municipality
until recently. “With the help of the local communities and their councillors,
it is much easier for the municipality to recognize where it actually makes
sense to spend money and where action is really needed,” he explained.
“Furthermore, people can turn directly to their local community if they want
the authorities to work on a particular problem. That’s a big improvement.”
The introduction of local communities in Trebinje traces its roots to an OSCE-sponsored
and initiated project. Zeljko Vukanovic, Head of the OSCE Field Office in Trebinje,
had encouraged Mrkonja and others to establish the local communities. Before
the local communities could be given their own financial resources by the municipality,
the boundaries of the communities had to be drawn up and approved by the municipal
assembly. Through workshops and seminars, Mrkonja and others informed many proactive
citizens from Trebinje’s local communities about basic principles of budget
planning, fundraising, governance and project management.
“People increasingly realize that through local communities they can influence
politicians, not only on the local level,” says Kolak. It is in municipalities
and local communities where citizens have the closest contact to state institutions
and agencies and where citizens have better opportunities to bring about positive
change and push for an introduction of transparent standards.
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