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Slobodan Draskovic, Mayor of Medvedja

2. August 2012.

Slobodan Draskovic was elected Mayor of Medvedja for the fourth consecutive term. Citizens surely have the reason why they entrusted the management of the municipality to him for the fourth time, while he explained why he had ran for the office for the fourth time by saying:   

„The reason why I was running for the office onece again was my desire to help the region that I come from. I was born here, my family is here and all I have is in the territory of this municipality, which I don’t intend to leave. The fact that the people elected me is probably because a lot was done in Medvedja, obviously with a great support from the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja and of certain ministers, who supported our region, such as Mr. Covic, Mr. Ljajic and Mr. Milan Markovic. Last year, we received from the Coordination Body around 39 million dinars, which we invested in development of the municipality of Medvedja.”

What steps did you take when you were first elected Mayor of Medvedja?

“Since I realized that no projects existed, we first did the infrastructure projects and developed the technical documentation, so that we could begin implementing them. We did around 180 kilometers of local roads are paved and connected every village with the center Medvedja, or with  the M-9 highway, which passes through Medvedja, and then goes on to Pristina and to Leskovac. We built around fifteen small and large bridges that are important, while we also reconstructed some bridges. A great deal of sewage was built, so that Medvedja, now, has 90 percent of sewage, while a part of it is just being completed. We constructed a system for wastewater treatment with the assistance of the Norwegian government in 2005 and the system is operational. it should, now, be extended to Sijarinska Spa, which is very important, if one bears in mind the increasing population of the municipality. “

Did you solve other community problems, such as water supply?

„When I assumed the position of  Mayor of the municipality in 1999/2000, there were big water restrictions. From 2002, when we solved the issue of water supply in Medvedja, there were no water restrictions even in dry periods, and we even have a surplus of water.  We completely replaced the asbestos pipes, which are carcinogenic and which used to break. Old wells were revitalized, while two new wells were built. The European Union helped us a lot through its specific agencies.   We applied for the funds and we received them. It's easier now because some commercial facilities in our area began to operate.  A portion of the money comes to the municipal budget from taxes and salaries.  We have some problems with this issue, because employees working in healthcare, police and educational institutions generally travel from other municipalities, so that taxes on their salaries are paid in their places of residence. “

What economy - related facilities were opened over the past few years?

„Lece  mine has been operational for three years and it employs over 350 workers.  The New equipment, which is worth five million euros, was received a short time ago.  Recently, along with the Slovenian Development Fund, we started working on the project of a briquette plant in the municipality of Medvedja, while the Slovenians are donating the funds for the plant. Last Friday, the competition for reconstruction of the plant began.  The EU provides 90 percent of the funds, while the municipality provides 10 percent. The implementation of the project will be launched one of these days. It will employ around 50 workers. We are intensively working on regulation of property relations on the land where the prison will be built. We determined the location and began the expropriation. Around 200 people will be employed there. “

What jobs await you in the future?

„We, together with Sabac dairy plant, are reviewing the technical documentation on importing about 100 heifers, which will, thereafter, be distributed to farmers. We built a large swimming-pool in Sijarinska Spa, and we shall build two more, since Sijarinska Spa has the potential for development of tourism in the municipality and is, therefore, extremely important to us. In addition to infrastructure development, we take care of our citizens. We employed eight caretakers who visit the sick and elderly. We earmarked around 5 million dinars in the budget and distributed it to our vulnerable citizens. We helped students who were unable to enroll in the faculties to study there on the budget, but are self-financing.  What is very important to us and what awaits us in the coming period is to agree with the new government on reconstruction of the stretch of M-9 road from Medvedja to Leskovac, and the stretch of road leading further to Pristina, as it is in a very poor condition. I expect that the talks on Kosovo and Metohija would take place soon. We have Albanian population and the crossing should be opened - now we only have the crossing for people, but not the one for goods. Why don’t our goods from Medvedja go on to Kosovo? They are great consumers, both of food products, timber and all other goods. “

In any case, the municipal authorities in Medveđa include representatives of the Socialist Party of Serbia, the Party of the United Pensioners of Serbia and the Albanian Party for Democratic Actions.