Yesterday, a meeting was held at the City Administration between the Mayor, Ljubiša Petrović, his associates, and the Ambassador of Switzerland to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Daniel Hunn.
 
The ambassador expressed great interest in current projects as well as challenges faced by the City Administration in the process of their implementation.
 
One of the topics of the meeting was the issue of public transportation in our city. On that occasion, Mayor Petrović explained that Milan Lazarević, Head of Mayor's Office, and a Master in Traffic Engineering, currently faces a complex task – finding the best solution for the functioning of public transportation in Bijeljina.
 
In the conversation with Ambassador Hunn, concerning the city of Bijeljina's determination to support sports, healthy lifestyle habits, and their importance for the adequate development, primarily of the youth, Mayor Ljubiša Petrović emphasized that one of the most important tasks in this area is the construction of a new city sports arena.
 
“The discussion also touched upon the topic of renovating cultural centres, aiming to bring social life back to rural areas. Additionally, the construction of a modern new park in the city is a priority. Moreover, numerous green areas in the city have been enriched with new facilities, and there has been an effort to equip kindergartens and open a new preschool institution in Bijeljina. Plans are also in place for new bicycle paths in the city,” the Mayor noted.
 
The guests were also interested in the practice of the City Administration to provide free textbooks and school supplies to elementary school students from the city area for the current school year. Mayor Petrović emphasized that this practice will continue in the future, but other aspects of life have not been neglected either.
 
“In our efforts to prioritize the improvement of citizens' quality of life, the City Administration has not overlooked the importance of environmental preservation, making it one of the most current topics in Semberija, so subsidizing the installation of heat pumps in residential buildings and individual households is one of the initiatives," said Petrović.
 
The delegation was also interested to find out about subsidizing the purchase of rural households by young married couples because, as it is well known, in countries like Serbia, these subsidies come from the national level. Unfortunately, in Bijeljina, this is not the case - the funds for this purpose are provided from the city budget.
 
In today's discussion, the Ambassador of Switzerland did not overlook major issues in our city, one of them being the sewage network. Explaining the current situation, the Mayor remarked that the problem in solving it is the fact that, due to political circumstances, Bijeljina is deprived of funds from the entity budget.
 
The delegation from the Embassy of Switzerland also expressed interest in the consequences of the stormy weather in July this year and the African swine fever, a disease that practically decimated the livestock in Semberija this summer. Mayor Petrović, addressing these topics, emphasized that the situation is indeed severe because the citizens of Semberija are once again facing the arbitrariness of the entity government, which is not responding appropriately to these issues. The City Administration is trying to provide support to households that suffered damage to agricultural crops or livestock using funds from its own budget.
 
During yesterday's conversation, the focus shifted again to positive examples of the City Administration's activities with the assistance of the Swiss government, all aimed at improving the quality of life for the citizens of Semberija.
 
In this regard, the Mayor's team presented to the guests from the Embassy the fact that numerous schools in this area are part of a reconstruction programme with the primary goal of becoming energy efficient. This primarily refers to the significant partner of the City of Bijeljina, Caritas Switzerland, thanks to which various projects have been initiated and implemented. These projects are not only related to school buildings and their reconstruction but also to a housing programme for vulnerable population groups.
 
In the conclusion of the meeting, there was discussion about the Francophonie Days held in March this year. During these days, all lovers of French music had the opportunity to enjoy the most famous works.