14.11.2011.

19 members of SAF presented keys to flats

Minister Sutanovac today presented the keys of the apartments to professional and retired members of the defense system in the "Suncana strana" residential area in Novi Sad. The ceremony of presenting keys was attended by Deputy Chief of General Staff Maj. Gen. Milan Bjelica and commander of the 1st Army Brigade, Brigadier General Djokica Petrovic.

According to Minister Sutanovac 19 of the 21 keys were handed in today, these flats being part of the exchange program between the Directorate for the Construction of the Republic of Serbia and MoD which envisions that these flats be given to active, and retired members of the defense system.

- The second time in two years we have presented keys to apartments in Novi Sad, and I expect that we will sign a contract with the Directorate for 34 new apartments that would be awarded in this region. In addition, in the former "Jugovicevo" barracks some 750 flats are being constructed, 90 of which will go to the members of the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Army who work in this city - Sutanovac said, adding that it is an extraordinary example of solving housing problems of the defense system.

He also announced that during a meeting with city authorities the construction of prefabricated houses will be discussed, as is done in Valjevo, in order to find a faster, cheaper and more efficient resolution of housing problems of the military personnel.

Novi Sad Mayor Igor Pavlicic expressed satisfaction that he had the opportunity to attend such an event in the new settlement, which will soon be complemented by the construction of Europe Boulevard.

- That is the reason that later in the day we will meet to talk about specific issues and business relations between the city and the Army of Serbia and the idea is to build a new settlement of prefabricated houses, something like Avijaticarsko settlement that already exists - said the mayor of Novi Sad.

ANSWERS TO REPORTERS’ QUESTIONS

The minister, when asked about the exchange of cost-ineffective property in the city, pointed out that there was a great interest for this, but also that, in recent years in our country as the world, real estate market was in stagnation as it had been hit hard by recession. He emphasized that the goal is to adequately replace the property and to obtain housing or money for its value. The Minister stressed that in Novi Sad, there is still 950 unsolved housing issues and expressed a desire to resolve that problem as soon as possible, where this year alone more than two thousand housing cases will be resolved, which is a record number.

According to him, rough estimates show that there are more than 15 thousand members of SAF and MoD with unsolved or inadequately solved housing problem, which requires a lot of money and space, which is a big burden for the Defense Ministry.

As for the allegations that, in view of recent events, some military facilities have been used as temporary shelters for asylum seekers, the Minister said that he was the initiator of the idea that with the Commissariat for Refugees of our country a solution for this problem be found by providing the space owned by the Ministry of Defence, which will be adequate for their accommodation. The barracks in Ruma, of which speculated as one of those locations, according to the minister is not an option, but there are other potential sites where the refugees can be accommodated.

As regards reporters’ question about the demands of some parties that the conscript duty be restored, the minister pointed out that during the Parliamentary debate last year some parties were very clear in voicing their positions that they were against the abolition of these duties, and these were the DSS and SNS.

- I have had a heated debate with Mr. Pelevic, who advocates a return to semi-professional military system, which would mean reinstituting recruitment system and the introduction of mandatory training for three to six months. They denied such views, but their program states this clearly, and reintroducing this kind of military system would be a very bad move and a big step backwards. On the other hand, if you read their program, which we did in the Ministry, the desire to abolish the MMA and military hospitals across Serbia and become part of the civilian health care would place the SAF in an unfavourable position as well as MoD and the University of Defence - said Minister Sutanovac, adding that the desire in order to be different the party offered a disastrous decision. He expressed the hope that military health care beneficiaries would take this into account during elections.