Yesterday, after ten years of “temporary” living in two collective centres in Mataruška Banja, Ljubiša Simović, the mayor of Kraljevo handed over 48 keys of apartment to 38 families, into which around two hundred displaced persons, who have been displaced from Kosovo and Metohija in the 1990’s, have moved. These apartments, or more precisely the two recently built apartment buildings, are located in the suburban settlement Branovac nearby Kraljevo. Next to them another six apartments have been distributed to families that have several young children and four flats for socially vulnerable citizens.

 

Both buildings are built in cooperation with the city of Kraljevo and the German humanitarian organisation “Help” within the framework of the Project “Programme for Assisting Internally Displaced Persons through the Provision of Alternative Housing Solutions and Acquisition Activities”, with the value of the investment amounting to ca. one million Euros. Of which the city invested around 25 percent, primarily in the provision of the necessary infrastructure.

 

As stated by Milena Jelenković, the chief of the “Help” office in Kraljevo, this humanitarian organisation has provided the money for 42 apartments from the Fond of the European Union, whereas six flats were financed by the German “Erlenbach” Foundation. The beneficiaries will live there for three years free of charge, with the obligation to pay the communalities, after that their status will be revised. The keys were handed over by the representatives of “Help” and the UNHCR, the assistant to the Commissar for Refugees Ivan Gerginov, the mayor of Kraljevo Ljubiša Simović and the mayor’s assistant for social matters Milun Jovanović.

 

In cooperation with the same donors an additional 12 apartments will be built, which will also be distributed to internally displaced persons, socially vulnerable families, whereas three flats are intended for young people who are without parental custody and are leaving the orphanages.