The PLIP agencies (OHR, UNHCR, OSCE, CRPC) announced today that 80 % of property claims have been resolved throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina as of the end of April 2003.
84% of the property claims have been resolved in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the Republika Srpska resolved 74% of its property claims, while Brcko District reached an implementation rate of 85%. Of the total of 228,179 property claims filed in BiH, some 46, 000 claims are still pending with the local housing bodies.
The increase from last month is 2 per cent. It is expected that the housing offices all over the country will accelerate their implementation ratio in the course of the next months. Local authorities appear to have taken seriously the task of completing the property repossession process by the end of this year but they need to redouble their effort in the summer months.
Each month new municipalities in BiH join the group of those having completed their property claims. In April, another 4 municipalities finalized their property claims bringing the total to 32 municipalities as well as 19 municipalities where the implementation ratio is over 95%.
With the introduction of the “PLIP Municipal Guidelines for Substantial Completion of the Property Legislation Implementation”, all municipalities are expected to follow their example and verify that they have complied with all the legal obligations under the law in the weeks and months ahead