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Angry Bosnian villagers wait for assistance months after lethal floods

D rivers getting in Donja Jablanica in Bosnia pass under a banner with a mad message from residents who say authorities have done bit to help given that deadly floods devastated the town in October.

Pity on the State and Federal Government of the Federation BiH, reads the banner, hanging from an underpass, describing the Bosniak-Croat region of decentralised post-war Bosnia.

Heavy rain triggered flooding and a landslide that swept through the village in an uneven location 70 km (45 miles) southwest of Sarajevo, trashing homes, dropping trees and disabling a. railway line. Of the 27 people killed in the flooding throughout. Bosnia, 19 died in Donja Jablanica.

2 months on, the disaster has actually laid bare the difficulties. of carrying funds in the fragmented Balkan nation whose. numerous federal governments have struggled to respond. Locals say they. have actually counted on charitable contributions.

We have got nothing from the state, not a single fening,. stated Esad Begovic, 72, while cleaning up mud and debris from his. house. I don't sleep here. A guy has let me use his apartment,. and I even do not understand the guy.

Begovic stated the only assistance has come from a local charity. called Pomozi.ba which has gathered contributions and provided. food, clothing and tools.

The local government of the southern Herzegovina-Neretva. canton, where the floods inflicted the best damage, said it. had actually sent out funds to regional communities and allocated 3.4 million. marka ($ 1.83 million) to fix roads under its jurisdiction.

However it said it was unclear where the cash would come. from, or when it would show up.

This disaster has actually proved once again it is necessary to. enhance channels of communication between all levels of. governance in Bosnia, spokesperson Pero Pavlovic said.

Under a peace deal that ended its 1992-95 war, Bosnia is. made up of 2 autonomous areas, the Bosniak-Croat Federation. and a Serb Republic, connected via a weak main federal government.

The federal government of the Bosniak-Croat Federation, where the. disaster occurred, did not react to ask for comment. Last. week it put the flood damage estimate at 308 million marka. ($ 166.3 million).

Today Donja Jablanica is deserted, its houses mainly. damaged by the collapse of a nearby quarry during the floods. Each week, individuals hold serene demonstrations at the entrance to the. town requiring government help.

Dzevad and Mirsada Grlica wonder if they will be able to. return to another mountain town near the town of Konjic after. the road was damaged in a landslide which left cracks in the. structures of their home.

They say that nobody has actually provided aid, other than for Dina Alic,. an activist linked to a local women-run charity called NERA. Alic assisted raise cash for a new greenhouse for the couple.

Mirsada has currently planted out green salad leaves, onion. and spinach. This means so much to me, she said. It's a brand-new. beginning.

(source: Reuters)