LACK OF MONEY AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN PRESEVO, BUJANOVAC AND MEDVEDJA

5. June 2015.

Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja – The life of residents of the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja today is like the one of residents of most places in South Serbia – hard and with no money and jobs. People are mostly employed in governmental bodies and local self-governments.

Most employees in Presevo work in governmental bodies and the local self-government.

“As far as Albanians from the region are concerned, they are all included in the governmental institutions”, explained MP Saip Kamberi.

On workdays, mostly pensioners, taxi drivers and sellers of fruits and vegetables are on the streets. People complain that there is no work and say that they often get help from their relatives who live and work abroad.

Although there are small family factories of furniture and joinery, restaurateurs and shop-keepers make the most money. Cenan Malici from Bujanovac has a farm of beef cattle and he processes the meat. He employs 45 workers, half of whom are Serbs.

“We received financial assistance from the Governments and the Coordination Body three years ago, which we used to purchase the machines and that's good. We hope that the financial aid will be given again," says Cenan Malici from Bujanovac.

The nearness of Corridor 10, Kosovo and Metohija and the border with Macedonia hasn’t been utilized. Although Presevo got the outpatient maternity ward last year, increasingly more young people, who are in search of work, leave this part of the country.

“We had 1,200 children until a few years ago. Now that number decreased to 736, "says the Principal of the elementary school in Veliki Trnovac, Naim Salihu.

Veliki Trnovac is the largest village in the municipality of Bujanovac. 11,000 people live in it. The locals claim that there is a high rate of unemployment and that every fourth resident of Veliki Trnovac is employed.

“We try to deal with some political issues that burden the region a lot, such as the number of inhabitants and the use of language and national symbols, "said Zoran Stankovic, the President of the Coordination Body of the Serbian Government for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja.

Source: Radio and Television of Serbia and Coordination Body