Brcko District Supervisor Susan R. Johnson today welcomed to the OHR Brcko Final Award Office more than 40 distinguished visitors, including senior BiH officials, foreign ambassadors to BiH, and representatives of the International Community, who were in Brcko to mark the fourth anniversary of the establishment of the Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Visitors were briefed by Brcko District Mayor Branko Damjanac, Deputy Mayor Ivan Krndelj, and District Assembly President Mirsad Djapo. They toured the Brcko District Judiciary Complex and Brcko Port and met representatives of the District business community, and were guests at a formal reception organised by the District Government at the hotel “Grand Posavina”, Brcko.
Brcko Supervisor Susan Johnson briefed the visitors on the status of the Brcko District, and the role of the Supervisor in implementation of the Brcko Final Award. Mayor Damjanac, Deputy Mayor Krndelj and District Assembly President Djapo made presentations on economic development and reform, legislative priorities, public administration reform and elections.
A special event was organised at the Brcko Port, where the guests toured under-used facilities that before the war made Brcko one of the biggest and most important ports in the region. The Brcko Port Director briefed the visitors on the port’s history and the current status, and Mayor Damjanac introduced the forthcoming plans for restructuring the port, and the South-Eastern Europe Stability Pact’s multilateral initiative to restore river navigation and re-vitalise the Sava River basin.
“I am proud to say that the Brcko District has in the past four years achieved a success that every citizen of the District can be proud of. This is the result of efforts of all the citizens of Brcko District, local institutions and the generous support of the OHR. I am convinced that the conditions that we created represent a solid foundation for the elected District authorities to further develop the District and ensure prosperous perspective for its citizens, for its youth especially,” Mayor Damjanac said.
“This has been an occasion to review the considerable achievements of the last four years, and to set the stage for the next phase of Brcko District’s development,” said Supervisor Johnson. “The recognition and the attention that the Brcko District has received demonstrate both Brcko’s achievements and its potential for the future. Not only is it the time for the District to elect its own government, but also to focus more attention on bringing itself into the mainstream of economic and political life in BiH. Brcko District will be working to strengthen its relationships with the State and the State institutions, as well as with the Entities and its neighbours in the region.”