The overflow of the Bosna River due to last week’s heavy rains in the Sarajevo settlements of Rajlovac and Reljevo caused flooding in several residential and auxiliary buildings, as well as the industrial zone in Rajlovac, where, among other things, the Robot shopping center was flooded.
The Robot shopping center was cut off from the rest of the city for three days, without electricity, and the central warehouses and auxiliary facilities, the parking lot, and the access road were flooded. Significant material damage was caused to the facility, which 130 workers of this company are still repairing. There is still sludge in the warehouse and efforts are being made to save as many goods as possible.
“The facility, fixed assets, goods for sale, fixed assets of other facilities were damaged, because the central warehouse is located here, as well as goods in retail, because we did not have electricity for three days. For now, we estimate the damage at more than four million BAM”, says Saima Hodžić, director of the Robot group.
No one from the Municipality and the Canton has yet visited the company or offered concrete help in repairing the damage caused by the flood.
They were assisted by the mayor of Zvornik, Zoran Stevanović, who organized the arrival of 40 people who work all week on cleaning the facility. Namely, in Bugojno and Kozarska Dubica, Robot planned to open sales facilities by the end of the year. When the people of Zvornik heard about what happened to Robot in Rajlovac, they decided to come and help repair the damage.
“These people will stay here for at least 15 days. Since they did not know what awaited them and how long they would stay, we provided them with accommodation, food and clothes. They even had a chance to go back home. However, they all decided to stay as long as necessary. This is really significant material, moral and humanitarian aid. It is important to emphasize that they are still not employees of Robot, but after we open the facility in Zvornik, we will offer them employment and thus repay them for this assistance. Many thanks to mayor Stevanović and these hard-working people for their help”, adds Hodžić.
