She's the Pride of Croatia and a Terrible Woman, Visits Forgotten People on the Edge of Poverty and Claims: People who live in Croatia without electricity are Serbs
March 29, 2020 - 11:12 pm
Branka Bakic Mitic, Deputy Mayor of Glina from the Serbian national minority: People without electricity are Serbs, the whole village is without electricity in the area of the town of GlinaRobert White / HANZA MEDIA
I recently asked a friend who works at a Swedish company to ask a boss for a donation to connect one family to electricity. They didn't believe him. It is completely incomprehensible to the Swedes that no one in the EU Member State has electricity in the twenty-first century.
This is what Branka Bakic Mitic , deputy mayor of Clay, tells us , after being recognized as "Pride of Croatia" this year, she was also named "Awesome Woman".
The award was presented for the first time this year, and is being awarded for contributing to gender equality, equity and social justice in Croatia by the choice of Voxfeminae.net and the social enterprise Fierce Women. Individuals, non-governmental organizations, institutions, trade unions and initiatives nominated candidates over the two months, with a total of 47 women and eight collectives nominated, while five won this year's award.
Branka won the award for the People for People initiative, which she launched with Maja Sever and Mateja Medlobi . For the past two years, she has been visiting the forgotten people of Bania and Kordun, who live without electricity, water or sanitation, and helps them in every way possible.
POLITICIANS IGNORE ME
Our call caught her as she was driving to Sisak, and she is on the ground, which means she visits various families almost every day. At least three times a week, he tells us.
She bought a fifteen-year-old Mitsubishi on credit because it has all-wheel drive so she can get to every remote home. Some locals are about twenty kilometers from the center of Clay, with no public transport. Branka, of course, consumes her own fuel, and when she is in the office, she dislocates the dislocated people with paperwork.
- I fill in their complaints, resolve enforcement, petitions, deal with unresolved property affairs, send mail ... - this 56-year-old tells us, adding that this is certainly the most and best thing she can do in a political office. Especially in a situation where the City did not even allocate the kuna for the work of civic associations.
"I could, like others, beat the empty straw and hurt John, but that's not me, nor would it be my choice," he tells us.
"I could, like others, beat the empty straw and hurt John, but that's not me, nor would it be my choice," he tells us.
You are dedicated to helping people who live without electricity, water, sanitation ... I read that you were ignored by politicians at first. Is that correct?
- It is true that politicians initially ignored me, and they continue to do so, when you are not a member of any party, then that is a problem.
When I assumed the position of Deputy Mayor, I realized that I did not have any authority and that I did not have any funds. Since I was born in this area and know every corner, I thought that someone paid by taxpayers could not sit crossed and do nothing. Although, of course, I could sit and receive a generous salary for four years.
That is why I have decided from a relatively comfortable position to help who I can, which are the old, forgotten, poor people, Indigenous people of this region who have been "plundered" and World War II and the Patriotic War so strongly that they still feel the consequences today.
As a deputy mayor from the Serb minority and visiting the terrain, I was greatly saddened by the fact that in the twenty-first century, some other households in the Glina area do not have basic living conditions, without electricity, without water, without a toilet, public transport, and the same people before the war all had electricity, there was public transport. Local water supply systems were in operation.
- It is true that politicians initially ignored me, and they continue to do so, when you are not a member of any party, then that is a problem.
When I assumed the position of Deputy Mayor, I realized that I did not have any authority and that I did not have any funds. Since I was born in this area and know every corner, I thought that someone paid by taxpayers could not sit crossed and do nothing. Although, of course, I could sit and receive a generous salary for four years.
That is why I have decided from a relatively comfortable position to help who I can, which are the old, forgotten, poor people, Indigenous people of this region who have been "plundered" and World War II and the Patriotic War so strongly that they still feel the consequences today.
As a deputy mayor from the Serb minority and visiting the terrain, I was greatly saddened by the fact that in the twenty-first century, some other households in the Glina area do not have basic living conditions, without electricity, without water, without a toilet, public transport, and the same people before the war all had electricity, there was public transport. Local water supply systems were in operation.
Things accelerated when you teamed up with Maya Sever and Matthew Medlobi to launch the People for People initiative. Then you were able to help hundreds of people. Tell us how.
- "People for People" is an initiative that came about very spontaneously. It just got things straight. Journalist Maya Sever made a report on a difficult life, better to say about surviving, these people for the Sunday on Two show, and I know all the people she was reporting about. It wasn't just about the reportage. Maja and I sat down for coffee and in ten minutes, together with Matthew, we arranged an action. Our goal was the same - how to help these people. And I'm in the field and I know how much these people need help.
We opened the "People for People" Facebook page and we started. It never occurred to us that the initiative would become what it is today. Sometimes it is not clear to me how it takes the same intensity for so long and where these good people come from.
And there are a lot of them, in the last campaign alone we raised about 50,000 kunas and bought eighteen furnaces, three boilers, five refrigerators, two heaters and one washing machine, furnished children's rooms, changed windows and doors.
- "People for People" is an initiative that came about very spontaneously. It just got things straight. Journalist Maya Sever made a report on a difficult life, better to say about surviving, these people for the Sunday on Two show, and I know all the people she was reporting about. It wasn't just about the reportage. Maja and I sat down for coffee and in ten minutes, together with Matthew, we arranged an action. Our goal was the same - how to help these people. And I'm in the field and I know how much these people need help.
We opened the "People for People" Facebook page and we started. It never occurred to us that the initiative would become what it is today. Sometimes it is not clear to me how it takes the same intensity for so long and where these good people come from.
And there are a lot of them, in the last campaign alone we raised about 50,000 kunas and bought eighteen furnaces, three boilers, five refrigerators, two heaters and one washing machine, furnished children's rooms, changed windows and doors.
Where do these people live, are they all within the scope of the City of Clay or beyond? How large is the City?
- According to the census in the spring of 1991, on the area of 544.10 square kilometers in the municipality of Glina, there were 23,040 inhabitants, distributed in 69 settlements, 69 percent Serbs and 20 percent Croats, and according to the 2011 census there were 9283 inhabitants, of which Croats 69 percent and Serbs 27.46 percent.
And, unfortunately, according to the population of the Central Bureau of Statistics for 2018, Glina is the city which is by far the most affected by emigration in the period of four years, 828 inhabitants left our small town.
- According to the census in the spring of 1991, on the area of 544.10 square kilometers in the municipality of Glina, there were 23,040 inhabitants, distributed in 69 settlements, 69 percent Serbs and 20 percent Croats, and according to the 2011 census there were 9283 inhabitants, of which Croats 69 percent and Serbs 27.46 percent.
And, unfortunately, according to the population of the Central Bureau of Statistics for 2018, Glina is the city which is by far the most affected by emigration in the period of four years, 828 inhabitants left our small town.
How was life before the war?
- Oooo, before the war we had everything - cotton spinning mill, Pliva's production plant, ironworks, we worked with your Diocom, we were the first to sell shoes, and a few days ago the last Pine store closed. And there were at least seven of them.
We had a hospital there, a maternity ward with a children's ward, there were children born from Cazin and Velika Kladuša ...
- Oooo, before the war we had everything - cotton spinning mill, Pliva's production plant, ironworks, we worked with your Diocom, we were the first to sell shoes, and a few days ago the last Pine store closed. And there were at least seven of them.
We had a hospital there, a maternity ward with a children's ward, there were children born from Cazin and Velika Kladuša ...
And today?
- Today, we are left with something in the wood processing industry, a penitentiary and just a packing facility for Hipp baby food. In the past, local farmers used to produce organic fruits and vegetables for this baby food factory.
- Today, we are left with something in the wood processing industry, a penitentiary and just a packing facility for Hipp baby food. In the past, local farmers used to produce organic fruits and vegetables for this baby food factory.
What nationalities are people without basic living conditions?
- The people without electricity are Serbs, the whole village is without electricity in the area of the town of Glina - Brubanj, and the last resident who lived there for more than fifteen years without electricity left the village.
Previously, Serb villages in the vicinity of Glina had house numbers of up to 220, and today these are settlements inhabited by only a dozen, mostly elderly people. Villages that do not have public lighting are villages inhabited by Serbs.
- The people without electricity are Serbs, the whole village is without electricity in the area of the town of Glina - Brubanj, and the last resident who lived there for more than fifteen years without electricity left the village.
Previously, Serb villages in the vicinity of Glina had house numbers of up to 220, and today these are settlements inhabited by only a dozen, mostly elderly people. Villages that do not have public lighting are villages inhabited by Serbs.
However, there was also a report about a Croatian defender who decided to settle there in the village of Klasnic. There was no one to write to, from Parliament to President Kolinda to connect the power. He has been struggling for fifteen years, and I got involved and we did everything we could, so after a lot of trying, he finally got electricity on December 31 last year. Otherwise, I don't ask who is of nationality, it never mattered to me, I just look at what kind of person he is.
My husband is a Croat, I've never had a problem with that. Nationalities matter to politicians, they need nationalism to maintain power.
My husband is a Croat, I've never had a problem with that. Nationalities matter to politicians, they need nationalism to maintain power.
PEOPLE HAVE A LOT OF PROMISE
Why can't HEP provide electricity to households within an hour's drive of the capital?
- Why there is no electricity on Banija yet, I don't know. Whether this is the fault of Elektra or the state institutions have scheduled it, I do not know.
And most of all, I blame the representatives of the Serbs who represent them in Parliament, that they did not fight so many years after the war that these people get electricity and that they do not have to pay for the connection they already paid once.
Before the war, all these households had a low-voltage connection, which they paid for, they cut down the banners in their forests, and now they have to re-pay a connection of around HRK 7800, and people live on social assistance and agricultural pensions of no more than HRK 800.
- Why there is no electricity on Banija yet, I don't know. Whether this is the fault of Elektra or the state institutions have scheduled it, I do not know.
And most of all, I blame the representatives of the Serbs who represent them in Parliament, that they did not fight so many years after the war that these people get electricity and that they do not have to pay for the connection they already paid once.
Before the war, all these households had a low-voltage connection, which they paid for, they cut down the banners in their forests, and now they have to re-pay a connection of around HRK 7800, and people live on social assistance and agricultural pensions of no more than HRK 800.
How have you provided solar panels to some households?
- We secured solar panels from donations; grandmother Ljubi arrived a donation from Panama, one of our emigrants after the article in the Jutarnji list paid for the panels, then a donation from UNHCR, and one association and many people with good heart.
Here, we were able to connect two connectors through one of my friends who sent a donation from Canada. And here, Brubanj, a village in the town of Clay, did not get electricity, and here people working in Austria and Germany rebuilt their houses and, unfortunately, so many years after the war, electricity did not come.
So a few years ago, the last resident who left fifteen years without electricity and left the village left the village.
- We secured solar panels from donations; grandmother Ljubi arrived a donation from Panama, one of our emigrants after the article in the Jutarnji list paid for the panels, then a donation from UNHCR, and one association and many people with good heart.
Here, we were able to connect two connectors through one of my friends who sent a donation from Canada. And here, Brubanj, a village in the town of Clay, did not get electricity, and here people working in Austria and Germany rebuilt their houses and, unfortunately, so many years after the war, electricity did not come.
So a few years ago, the last resident who left fifteen years without electricity and left the village left the village.
How did you personally experience the war? Did you have a problem?
- I am a deputy mayor of Serb ethnicity. The war events were, as for everyone, difficult for me, for a while I was in Germany, the rest in Zagreb. Always experience unpleasant experiences, but not from humans but from humans.
I am not a member of any party, I won the election as an independent candidate, and there were five of us. People have shown that they have a lot of promising parties that do nothing.
- I am a deputy mayor of Serb ethnicity. The war events were, as for everyone, difficult for me, for a while I was in Germany, the rest in Zagreb. Always experience unpleasant experiences, but not from humans but from humans.
I am not a member of any party, I won the election as an independent candidate, and there were five of us. People have shown that they have a lot of promising parties that do nothing.
Do you think politicians should do exactly what you do and why they don't?
- Politicians should descend among the people to see how their constituents live. Surely then they would have more empathy and instead of expensive cars and shameless teams they would allow little people a better life. I think the basic task of politicians, because they are actually servants of the people, is to build a better future for every citizen with whom we share our daily lives. And the answer to the question why they don't do this, you have to look with the main political actors and I don't want to get into their motives.
- Politicians should descend among the people to see how their constituents live. Surely then they would have more empathy and instead of expensive cars and shameless teams they would allow little people a better life. I think the basic task of politicians, because they are actually servants of the people, is to build a better future for every citizen with whom we share our daily lives. And the answer to the question why they don't do this, you have to look with the main political actors and I don't want to get into their motives.
What I am convinced, primarily from my experience so far, is that only at the level of rhetoric does public interest care and the struggle for the little man dominate. Political practice teaches us that this is not so. On the contrary, satisfying one's own interests through political groupings is the dominant paradigm of acting in the public interest. The sooner they stop doing this, the sooner the better the Serbian community in Croatia will come.
I believe that the time has come for the shift of generations in our politics, with which the process of mental shift must take place in parallel. Only when credible and honest representatives come to the scene, who will always be ready to acknowledge their mistakes and omissions, can we count on the essential problems of our citizens to be solved. Only then will I be sure that we are on the right track to protecting the individual as the most important segment of our society.
Bravo, Branka! And congratulations on the awards and the whole engagement. Let's just rewrite the coronavirus ...
- Yeah, huh ... I guess everything will be fine. I am not afraid of the virus in my remote households. All I'm afraid is that I won't bring it to them
- Yeah, huh ... I guess everything will be fine. I am not afraid of the virus in my remote households. All I'm afraid is that I won't bring it to them
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