Actuality

Vučić said that the greater part of Krupanj had already been reconstructed following the devastating floods last year, adding that the citizens he met told him that the town was now more beautiful than before the floods.

“We will keep up the good work and continue fighting even more tenaciously to ensure that our children have the future in Krupanj, to work and provide for their families here”, said Vučić.

He expressed gratitude to the European Union for providing almost half of the funds invested in Krupanj following the floods, i.e. 5.6 million Euros.

Vučić said that all four rivers in the municipality of Krupanj had now been protected in large part, with dams not yet constructed on one river only. He, therefore, invited the Director of the public water management enterprise “Srbijavode” Goran Puzović to Krupanj to resolve the outstanding issue.

The 12-kilometer Korenita-Krupanj road had been reconstructed after a slight delay, with 4.5 million Euros invested in the project, said Vučić.

The Prime Minister showed appreciation for the title of an honorary citizen of Krupanj, stressing that he was well pleased since the decision was unanimous.

He also thanked the citizens for preserving high morale in spite of all the troubles and problems they faced and for appreciating all that had been done to improve the quality of their life in Krupanj.

The President of the Municipality of Krupanj Rade Grujić said that the reconstructed road would shorten travel time to Loznica by 25 minutes.

“Krupanj is opening its gates to the world today”, said Grujić, adding that the new road would not end in Loznica, but go all the way to the river of Drina.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony, attended by the Prime Minister, was conducted by the Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlović, the Head of Operations of the EU Delegation to Serbia José Antonio Gómez and the Acting Director of the PE “Roads of Serbia” Zoran Drobnjak.

Visit to Reconstructed Houses in Krasava Village

Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić visited today the resident of the house constructed after the floods in the village of Krasava, expressing gratitude to the EU for its assistance.

Speaking with Dragoljub Andrić, the owner of the newly-built house by the road to Krupanj, Prime Minister underlined the importance of the assistance the EU provided for Krupanj. Vučić said that the EU assigned more than 5 million Euros to assist Krupanj, while the state of Serbia provided only 200,000 Euros more than the EU for the flood relief efforts.

– I would like to extend special appreciation to the EU, since its assistance has made an enormous difference for the citizens of Krupanj – the Prime Minister said.

After the owner of the house said that he was retired on disability pension, Vučić noted that the retirement benefits both for him and for other retired persons in Serbia would be increased by the end of the year. Stressing that there were 1.7 million retirees in Serbia, Vučić thanked them for withstanding, together with other citizens, harsh measures that were already bearing fruit, providing the opportunity to increase retirement benefits.

Dragoljub Andrić, the owner of the newly-built house by the road to Krupanj said for Tanjug that the property he had had at another place in the village of Krasava was swept away by a landslide.

Since the landslide destroyed his old house, he was obliged to seek shelter in the house of his children whose property was used to build the new house on with the assistance of the Government of Serbia and the EU.

Andrić expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Government of Serbia and the EU for building the house he started living in early this year. He said that his living conditions had now improved. Andrić is a retiree. He has three children and even a great-grandchild, while his family makes a living mostly from agriculture.

The President of the municipality of Krupanj Rade Grujić said that almost all flood damage had been repaired so far.
– Fourteen months after the floods, the situation is good. All citizens whose houses were destroyed have a roof over their heads. As many as 27 houses have been built – 17 financed by the United Arab Emirates, 10 by the EU through the UNOPS, and 13 people received the funds to build the houses themselves. A total of 40 families whose houses were destroyed in floods have been taken care of and 193 houses have been repaired – he said.

Visit to Šejić Family Greenhouse

During his visit to Krupanj, Vučić also visited the greenhouse of the four-member family of Šejić. Speaking with the citizens, who greeted him with applause, asking him to visit them more often, Vučić said that he had seen the photos of the river of Čađavica full of garbage, stressing that neither the citizens nor the municipality should allow such a thing to happen. The municipality is obliged to conduct the cleaning regularly, said Vučić, underlining that this was not something even the EU, who provided substantial assistance for Krupanj reconstruction, could teach us. 

Šerija Šejić, a farmer and owner of a greenhouse, thanked the Prime Minister and the state for their assistance, stressing that it represented a springboard for the future.

She said for Tanjug that the family relied heavily on the greenhouse, following the death of her husband, underscoring that they were the fourth generation of farmers.

At the moment, the Šejićs are growing cornichons in their greenhouse, planning to grow various agricultural crops over the year. Šarija Šejić (52) said that the floods last year were disastrous, the worst she had seen in her whole life.

Source: Tanjug