INTERETHNIC COOPERATION

17. November 2017.

Presevo – The “Saba Belca” construction company from Presevo, which was founded 26 years ago, is a good example of inter-ethnic cooperation and doing business. The company that builds and maintains roads and that will, this winter, clean snow from the roads in Presevo, Bujanovac and Vranje, employs both Serbs and Albanians.

Although the construction business is mainly done in the field, the employees work and cooperate well at the company’s office, too. Mumin, Nikola and Aleksandar are in charge of administrative affairs of the company. They are of the view that there is mutual understanding between Serbs and Albanians working for the company, as well as that there are no any prejudices, ethnic differences or anything else for that matter. Work is divided, so that each worker does his share of work. The language is not an obstacle for them, since they understand each other very well both in the office and on the construction sites.

The "Saba Belca" company manufactures concrete and concrete blocks. It has asphalt plants in South Serbia, and it builds and repairs roads in both Serbian and Albanian communities.

Vlada Stosic, the company’s employee, says:

“I can speak Albanian, so that, when necessary, I interpret. When our work is finished, we go somewhere for a cup of coffee, which we have together, when we socialize. I come to their homes and they come to mine, which means that we have no problems at all.”

Dalibor Mladenovic, one of the company’s managers, says:

"I used to be the head of the construction site where the Albanians worked. I cooperated with them normally and had no problems whatsoever.”

The company has around 60 full-time employees, while a hundred or so more employees are hired during the construction season. The company has over 150 construction machines, while four years ago, it received from the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja financial assistance for the purchase of an automated machine for manufacturing concrete blocks.

Driton Etemi, the Director of the "Saba Belca" company, said that works on constructing a new lime pit and a new mortar, adhesives and pellets plant in Presevo had started, where around 300 workers would be employed.

Apart from maintaining roads in Vranje, Presevo and Bujanovac in the winter period, the company’s employees, over the past three seasons, reconstructed 60 streets in Vranje.

Source: Serbian Broadcasting Corporation – Channel 1 and Coordination Body