Two-year Project Support to BiH Water Policy Completed

The project "Support to BiH water policy ", designed to ensure the protection and rational use of water resources in Bosnia and Herzegovina through the principles of integrated water management in accordance with European Union standards, concluded on 27 October, in Sarajevo, with a closing seminar and press conference. The European Union funded the two-year project with Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance funds for the year 2007, in the amount of one million Euros. The project was implemented by a consortium of companies, led by the PM Group of Ireland.

On completion of the project, seminar participants expressed the hope that the water policy will be prepared in accordance with Entity legislation and harmonized at the state level. In addition, by-laws related to Entity laws on water should be prepared in accordance with EU legislation and should be harmonized and agreed among key stakeholders.

Johann Hesse, Head of the Operations Section for Economic Development, Natural Resources and Infrastructure at the EU Delegation, pointed out that there are comprehensive and demanding laws, regulations and directives in the EU covering drinking water and wastewater.

“These are important and sensitive matters at the present time,” he said. “Through this project we have prepared a strategy for transposition of EU water-related acquis.  We have also prepared implementing legislation relating to the quality of drinking water, emissions of wastewater to surface waters, laboratories and content of river basin management plans.  These implementing acts are meant to further transpose some of the key EU directives in legislation in BiH.  I also must emphasize that for a certain number of citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina there should be facilities for wastewater treatment. Unfortunately, only 2.5 percent of the BiH population is connected to some of the rare plants for wastewater treatment, and that is a very small number.”

Hesse said the project had attempted to explain strategies and EU directives on water management and had stressed the importance of implementation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“In order to harmonize Bosnia and Herzegovina with these directives, there will have to be investment in infrastructure,” Hesse said. He added that building wastewater treatment facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina is necessary and that it will take time and money, “but in the end it means harmonization with EU directives.” He said the project had been able to gather information on the infrastructure that must be operational in order to comply with EU directives, though he also pointed out that the project had not been able to offer proposals on financing construction of infrastructure.

Assistant Minister for Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, responsible for Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Protection, Reuf Hadžibegić said that the Study and other supporting documents produced through the project had opened horizons on the current situation in the water sector in BiH. He said the project had delivered material that would serve as a sound basis for further activities such as the adoption of a strategy on water policy.

The project partners were the BiH Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, the Entity ministries for Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry, River Basin Agencies in Sarajevo, Bijeljina, Mostar and Trebinje, and the Entity environment ministries.

 

Europa.ba