KOSOVO AGENCY SAYS FOREIGN CHIEF WRONGS
ALBANIANS BY ALLOWING CHURCH BUILDING
KosovaPress - June 9, 2004
Mitrovice (Kosovska Mitrovica), 6 June: Mitrovice, the most singular city in
Kosova (Kosovo), has been without a municipal chairman for the last six
months, without a municipal administrator for the last three, and now it has
been left without a regional administrator.
The reasons for Mitrovice municipal chairman Faruk Spahia's absence are
already known. He is in Germany for treatment. Regional administrator David
Mitchell has left because the UN appointed him to another post.
The majority of Mitrovice citizens regard the March events primarily as a
failure on the part of UNMIK (UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo)
and, therefore, see Mitchell's departure as a confirmation of their views.
UNMIK Spokesman Gyorgy Kakuk denies it, saying that he has been appointed to a
new post in New York.
While the reason for the departure of these two senior Mitrovice officials
have been made public, what remains unclear is the "sneaky" departure of
municipal administrator Minna Jarvenpaa, who had been brought to this post by
the former UNMIK chief, Michael Steiner.
She left Mitrovice without saying goodbye to the local administration, but not
without committing an act against the majority Albanian population. A few days
before leaving, she gave permission for the construction of an Orthodox church
in the Kodra e Minatoreve neighbourhood, which had been a contentious issue
for about two years.
"I have heard that the municipal administrator has given permission for this,
but I have not seen any document that confirms it and neither have we been
asked about it at all," Mitrovice executive chief Mustafe Pllana said.
Also, it is terrible that the church is being built on municipal land and the
local authorities have not been asked about it.
While Mustafe Pllana is not entirely sure, as he has not seen any document,
Kakuk has said that Jarvenpaa had given permission for the construction of
this religious building.
Most Mitrovice citizens are not even aware of the absence of most senior
international and local officials. However, there are many who think that the
absence of international administrators is being felt because of the reserved
powers that they hold.
"How much the local and international administration in Mitrovice have worked
is also obvious from the fact that there is no regional administrator,
municipal administrator, or municipal chairman and no one knows what is going
on," political analyst Nexhmedin Spahiu says.
According to him, in economic terms, Mitrovice administrators are just a
burden to the budget and redundant as staff.
"If a person who contributes to an organization were missing, his or her
absence would have been felt. In this context, I would use as an example
businessman Avni Kastrati. I have heard that when he got involved in political
activities and in the election campaign for municipal chairman, he was absent
from his firm and it suffered significant losses. This shows that he played a
significant role in his firm," Spahiu says.
He thinks that the same thing should happen when an administrator or municipal
chairman is absent, that is, their absence should be felt. Meanwhile, in the
case of Mitrovice their absence is not felt because they did not contribute to
their institutions. (Passage omitted)
"Mitrovice administrators - their absence is not felt at all," says Fatime
Sadiku, a citizen from the northern side now living for the past five years as
a refugee in the southern side of the town.
According to her, all administrators who served in Mitrovice have failed to do
any good, did not win the sympathies of the Albanian population, and their
absence is not felt.
She says that nothing has been done to return the citizens to their properties
and homes.
"Simply, I think that they come here only for the money and then return to
their homes without doing anything. This is obvious from the fact that the
city has remained divide even though five years have passed since the war,
economic situation is grave, unemployment is high, etc," she says. (Passage
omitted)
While the UNMIK spokesman says that the arrival of a new municipal
administrator is expected soon, his name has not been made known. Whereas as
far as the issue of the municipal chairman is concerned, it remains to be
seen.
Source: Kosovapress news agency web site,
Pristina, in Albanian 6 Jun 04
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