Snaga lokalnog brings you a story from one of the smallest and poorest municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) – the Municipality of Kupres in Republika Srpska (RS). If you are one of those who thought that no matter how poor BiH is, it is rich in water that means life. The Municipality of Kupres is here to convince you in the opposite. 200 inhabitants live in Kupres, and there is no water, there is one police officer, and the local ambulance has been locked since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, March 2020.
At the end of June 2021, within the Snaga lokalnog project, the Network for Building Peace visited the Municipality of Kupres and talked with Jovana Marić, the current Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Kupres. Jovana Marić wishes to make the lives of the citizens of the Municipality of Kupres better and to bring new contents to her small local community. Do you want to know how she plans to do it? Find out below.
At the beginning of our conversation, Jovana Marić told us why she lives in Kupres, even though she has the opportunity to live in a bigger city. With the words “I love living here because this is my hometown”, she explains that her father is from Kupres. She remembers the time they spent as children in Kupres during school holidays, even though they lived in Bugojno, which gave them more opportunities. After finishing school and getting a job in Novi Sad, she did not come to Kupres for several years. She used her vacation days to visit the sea side, and travel has always been her great love. In the meantime, she realized that she didn’t miss anything special if she didn’t visit the sea side. When she returned to Novi Sad, she lacked a sense of belonging. Then her fantasy about returning to Kupres begins, the desire to have her own goat farm is born. She wanted to get a loan and start a business. “It’s not easy, you don’t have support, you don’t find support here,” says Marić, adding that, luckily, she didn’t get a loan then. Her grandfather is the holder of the right of ownership over the family land in Kupres, as Jovana calls him “elder”. He is engaged in cattle breeding, so she could be engaged in goat breeding only when he stops engaged in cattle breeding. Jovana’s grandfather is just one of the elders of this small local community. Jovana explains that in Kupres the rule is that the oldest person is the elder in the house, he decides everything, he decides what can and what can’t be done. It is very difficult to fight this tradition and she believes it is the only obstacle that prevents progress of young people. Elders still do not see the need to give part of the property to young people who want to start new businesses.
Cattle breeding as the only occupation in the Municipality of Kupres and saving money as a way of life
The only occupation in Kupres is cattle breeding. There is no other choice for the population, almost every family has cows. Two families are also engaged in sheep breeding. Jovana is not giving up on her wish to have a goat farm. Through a smile and with a gleam in her eyes, she explains that the goats are quite restless, and her grandfather’s property, on which spruce grows, which goats love, is an ideal soil for goat breeding. Goats usually need twice as much less resources, water and food compared to cows. A minimum of 50 goats is needed to start a milk-producing goat farm, and the advantage of goats is that they reproduce and produce milk at the same time. Our interviewee is looking a step further and already has information that Mljekara Pađen in Livno wants to buy goat’s milk, Republika Srpska plans to buy goat’s milk. She hopes that a positive example from Serbia, which invests significant funds in the development of goat breeding, will motivate the authorities of our state to do the same. Families that produce cow’s milk sell milk in Livno and Kozarska Dubica. Although almost every household in the Municipality of Kupres is engaged in cattle breeding or sheep breeding, the Municipality of Kupres does not have a veterinarian. He visits from Kupres in the Federation of BiH, Mrkonjić Grad and Šipovo. Young people in the Municipality of Kupres do not want to enroll in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine because there is no Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Banja Luka. It exists in Sarajevo, Belgrade and Novi Sad, which then requires significant funds for education.
Marić points out that people in Kupres are frugal, have few opportunities and few resources, they are always careful about what and how much they spend. Most of them who are living in Kupres, they want to stay there, many of them do not have the opportunity to leave. Many of them wish to provide something for their children, of whom only eleven currently attend primary school in Kupres. From September this year, two more first-graders will start school. Children from the first to third grade go to school together, as well as children from fourth to fifth grade. Children who attend older grades, from sixth to ninth grade, go to school in Strojnice towards Šipovo. They have free transportation to the school which is a 15-minute drive away. In high school, children go to Šipovo or Banja Luka. Most of them go to Banja Luka, which provides more opportunities for education. Students who go to school in Šipovo have subsidies for transportation, and those who go to Banja Luka do not have this type of support. They are usually living in a student dormitory or a family home in Banja Luka. Jovana Marić points out that residents of Kupres are saving money for schooling and that all children go to high school, although it seems that Kupres is a poor area with few opportunities to earn money, people are frugal. They always save money and other goods.
Water as a basic need and human right does not exist in the Municipality of Kupres
Some residents of Kupres would like to have more livestock, but the main problem is water, which does not exist because there is no water supply network. Each house has its own well from which it draws water. Cattle have ponds from which they drink water, and the population of Kupres drinks and uses rainwater, which is technically correct water. If there is no rain, as it was not in the days when Snaga lokalnog visited the Municipality of Kupres, a problem arises. Families order water tanks from Kupres in the Federation of BiH for their needs, and one water tank costs a staggering 100 BAM. For comparison, the average monthly water bill in Sarajevo for a family of three who do not use water sparingly is around 15 BAM. Marić emphasizes that the Municipality of Kupres has an elaborated project proposal which focuses on bringing water to Kupres, but this small municipality is very poor and has no money to co-fund the project. They have a very small annual budget, and the project costs millions. Upon her return to Kupres, Jovana learned to appreciate every drop of water and emphasizes that the basic human right of the population of Kupres is being violated – the right to water that means life. The water tank that the Municipality of Kupres now has is unusable. The solution would be, in a certain way, if the Municipality of Kupres had its own water tank, then it would bring water directly from the source from Kupres in the Federation of BiH, the population would not have to pay for it from their own pockets.
The requirements for the Municipality of Kupres, which is a highly underdeveloped municipality, are the same as for larger and much more developed local communities. Marić points out that there is a problem with the staff in the administration of the Municipality of Kupres. There is no professional staff, the social worker is retiring soon, there is no one to replace him. The Municipality has no personnel with agricultural expertise. They have an economist, but he is overburdened with workload. The Association of Municipalities and Cities is not familiar with the situation in local communities, so they are often asking for reports on bridges, ships, water supply network and canals, and Kupres has no water. In Kupres, the mayor is a person who does everything, and the Municipality of Kupres does not have a lawyer. They do not have the money to afford it, which is a huge problem for them. Our interviewee believes that a lawyer in the municipal administration would mean a significant relief when applying for projects that they need to make progress as a local community, since they do not have relevant knowledge. Also, Jovana is thinking about how to encourage investments in Kupres, how to encourage the diaspora to invest in the beauties of their homeland, emphasizing that there is currently a sawmill and a cafe in Kupres, one police officer takes care of public order and peace in this local community, while the nearest ambulance is in the neighboring municipalities. There is no waste collection, because there is not a single set of containers in the Municipality of Kupres. The residents dump waste in illegal landfills, and the younger population transports waste by car to containers in neighboring local communities. This way waste disposal violates the beautiful nature that adorns the Municipality of Kupres.
A school roof that leaks, a old floor and wood stove in classrooms
The children attend school in a building from the Austro-Hungarian period, which is a very beautiful building, but unfortunately it is leaking and needs to be renovated. Winters in Kupres are cold, so when children go to school over the icy stairs, they come to a classroom heated by wood stoves. Thanks to the donation of the Japanese Embassy, windows and doors were installed in the school building, and there was no interest in the school building being completely renovated. 500 students used to go to school (in the 70’s). Now the first floor of the school belongs to the school in Strojice, one hall of the school belongs to the Municipality. The residents use it for funerals, while folklore classes are organized in one school hall. The classes are held for children and adults in order to be able to fund this extracurricular activity for children. Folklore has been active since a month ago, and there is interest in this activity, although at first residents did not like it, as well as all the changes that are being initiated in Kupres. Our interviewee explains that when they play folklore, their feet fall through the old floor boards of the school hall, since there are numerous patches. Unfortunately, apart from folklore in Kupres, there is nothing else, no other extracurricular activity. They have been thinking about basketball practice, but no one wants to coach basketball for only two children.
Extracurricular activities are not the only thing missing in Kupres. There is no library. Our interviewee wishes to start the library, to awaken the awareness and desire of children to read, but there are no books. Jovana Marić sees the local library as a nicely decorated space for book lovers, a space for socializing and talking, with colorful chairs and coffee tables, a space where a themed evening with cookies and socializing can be held, and adds that it would be nice to have a space where you can play chess, or some other board game. Unfortunately, people in Kupres are skeptical about innovations, changes. They see every proposed idea only as a problem, everything is discouraged at the beginning. Some children from Kupres have never been to the cinema, theater, or playground. There has never been a playground in Kupres. However, this year the budget of the Municipality is a little higher, so they managed to allocate funds for the playground that will soon be set up, a house, a slide, swings and seesaws, all of which will find their place behind the school. Marić wishes to provide children various contents. She has many ideas, but cannot implement all of them alone. She needs support of the local community, but also support in general. As our interviewee says, she would even give up part of her salary just to start something, if only there was a functional hall in the school, mostly for the sake of the children and also for herself because she wants to live in Kupres.
Even if you have money, you cannot spend it
Referring to the financial situation, Jovana Marić says that there is no opportunity to spend money in Kupres. There is currently one store and one coffee shop. Thinking about what would make everyday life easier for the population, Jovana mentioned a potato extraction machine that could be used by all families in Kupres. Potatoes, beets and crops that grow underground are the only things that, due to the harsh climate, can grow in Kupres. Marić says that maybe this year, when the municipality’s budget is a little higher, it will be possible to buy that machine. However, she but tries not to make decisions that require spending money, and says that every penny must be saved in Kupres, because you never know when there will be shortage of water, or if some of the elderly residents need help. In Kupres, there is a problem with the social care of elderly people who are left alone, and for whom the Municipality of Kupres pays for the nursing home. Elderly people mostly stay at nursing homes in Mrkonjić Grad, Modriča and Prijedor. Our interviewee modestly stated that they cannot do much, they cannot brag about much, but they regularly pay for nursing homes for their elderly citizens, they try to help everyone.
Lack of water, school building that needs to be renovated, lack of extracurricular activities, library and cultural facilities are not the only problems of the Municipality of Kupres. The population also has a problem with the availability of health care. Near the building of the Municipality of Kupres, there is a small village ambulance that has not provided services for some time. Before the coronavirus pandemic, a doctor came from Šipovo who wrote prescriptions and measured people’s blood pressure, every 15 days. Now no one comes anymore, everyone goes to Kupres in the Federation of BiH and pay for medical treatments. The Municipality of Kupres supports its citizens as much as it can, whoever needs a medical treatment and does not have the opportunity to go, the Municipality will take care of the transportation, which also organizes the transportation of people for chemotherapy and other types of medical treatments.
Although almost all families are engaged in cattle breeding, few households in the Municipality of Kupres produce dairy products for sale. Most dairy products are produced for their own needs. It is much easier to sell milk. Good quality dairy products require appropriate premises (wooden house), as well as other conditions. Nobody in Kupres is interested in branding either. There was an idea to establish a cooperative, but the problem arose because people were afraid to give part of the land for the cooperative – older family members give a piece of land to younger family members to use for cooperative purposes. Recalling this example, Jovana Marić concluded the conversation: “Elderly should give young people a chance, because young people care, they want to live in their country, they want to stay in Kupres. Young people have ideas, strength and the will to prove themselves. Young people should be given a chance, and the world would be much more beautiful.”
Interviewed by: Maida Zagorac
