YUGOSLAVIA: NEW GOVERNMENT WILL HAVE TASK OF UNDOING DAMAGE LEFT AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE OF FORMER PRESIDENT SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC'S RULE
Record ID:
646708
YUGOSLAVIA: NEW GOVERNMENT WILL HAVE TASK OF UNDOING DAMAGE LEFT AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE OF FORMER PRESIDENT SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC'S RULE
- Title: YUGOSLAVIA: NEW GOVERNMENT WILL HAVE TASK OF UNDOING DAMAGE LEFT AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE OF FORMER PRESIDENT SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC'S RULE
- Date: 11th October 2000
- Summary: NOVI SAD, SERBIA, YUGOSLAVIA (OCTOBER 9, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. SLV PAN BARGES ON DANUBE ARRIVING AT DELIVERY WHARF FOR RAW OIL, BEFORE GOING TO REFINERY, BARGE MOORING, BARGEE TYING ROPE AROUND MOORING; SLV RIVER PAN TO BARGE (5 SHOTS) 0.28 2. SLV TRUCK ENTERING REFINERY 0.42 3. SLV PAN DAMAGED REFINERY AFTER NATO BOMBING; SLV MANGLED METAL LOADED INTO CONTAINER; STEAM ESCAPING RUSTY PIPE; WORKERS REPAIRING REFINERY (10 SHOTS) 1.35 4. (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) REFINERY OFFICIAL VLADIMIR DOPUDJA SAYING: "During the war the oil refinery was bombed twelve times and fifty percent of it was destroyed. During last year's reconstruction two parts were repaired." 2.07 5. LV ZOOM OUT GV OIL REFINERY ON OUTSKIRTS OF CITY OF NOVI SAD 2.16 9. HAS CARS DRIVING OVER PONTOON BRIDGE; CARS DRIVING OVER REPAIRED BRIDGE; LV DAMAGED SUSPENSION BRIDGE (3 SHOTS) 2.29 10. SLV TILT UP /SLV PAN BRIDGES OVER DANUBE (2 SHOTS) 2.45 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 26th October 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NOVI SAD, SERBIA, YUGOSLAVIA
- City:
- Country: Yugoslavia
- Reuters ID: LVA1U9YMEA2NPC2O6LXE40X2QES0
- Story Text: Yugoslavia's new government will have the mighty
task of undoing the damage left after more than a decade of
former President Slobodan Milosevic's rule.
One of the first jobs will be to clear the Danube River of
debris, left after NATO's air campaign last year, which has
stopped the flow of shippers and barges and resulted in the
loss of hundreds of millions of (U.S.) dollars.
The worst stretch of damage to the Danube River is as
it runs through the city of Novi Sad, the capital of Serbia's
northern Vojvodina province that was most severely
damaged by Nato bombing.
The river should be cleared of NATO bombing debris and
reopened for shipping as soon as next June, now that
Yugoslavia's new government is moving toward dropping a demand
by former president Slobodan Milosevic that bridges be rebuilt
while the river is cleared, a senior municipal official said
on Monday.
An oil refinery which stands next to the river still bears
the scars of bombing. Workers are repairing the rusting pipe
work that was bombed twelve times during the NATO offensive.
"During the war the oil refinery was bombed 12 times and
50 percent of it was
destroyed. During last year's reconstruction two parts were
repaired", said refinery
official Vladimir Dopudja.
The city's main bridges across the river have been
reduced to rubble, disrupting
traffic along the 2,800-km (1,750-mile) long waterway and
seriously hitting shippers
upstream and downstream from the bombing damage.
Estimates put trade losses at some 500 million U.S.
dollars (USD).
There was no river crossing until last September when the
municipality built a pontoon bridge to cope with the traffic
in the city of 300,000 people. With the pontoon
bridge in place, no shipping could use the Danube.
Plans by the West so far to help with the cleaning of the
Danube at Novi Sad had been prevented by Milosevic, who used
the blocked river as a bargaining chip to get all bridges
rebuilt.
Estimates put total costs at around 100 million USD.
The European Union (EU) has said it will now begin the
process of opening up aid packages to Yugoslavia to help its
reconstruction. The British Foriegn Minister Robin Cook has
called for quick, visible projects, like the clearing of the
Danube.
The EU has allocated up to 22 million euros (19.13 million
USD) to finance the project, while members of the Danube
Commission have to raise the remaining 4 million euros.
The cleaning of the river would involve the use of
explosives, to split the reinforced concrete slabs coming from
two bridges hit by the NATO missiles, into smaller pieces. The
removal of the submerged parts of a metal railway bridge would
be more complicated.
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