Being affected by the floods, waiting for compensation

He shows that his family and others in that neighbourhood have been visited by representatives of the South Mitrovica municipality, while his brother, Sultan Hajdini, says he only hopes for help.

“The entire house is damaged. I had asked the municipality [of South Mitrovica], the Government of Kosovo to examine us, to consider us as soon as possible, that we do not have a way out. We don't have any more help”, he tells Radio Free Europe.

Many Kosovo citizens are in need of assistance since January 19th, when some areas of the country were engulfed by floods as a result of heavy rainfall. Some of the most affected municipalities are: Skenderaj, South Mitrovica, Istog and Kline.

Skenderaj and South Mitrovica floods have been delivered packages of hygienic and food equipment from the Kosovo Security Forces with a view to, reportedly in the KSF report, “at some point facilitated life by the 148x1) floods.

The Kosovo government, through an announcement, has indicated that citizens of these municipalities are equipped with blankets, food and water tanks.

What can damaged citizens do?

Kosovo Defence Minister Andmend Mehaj has said in a Facebook post that KSF mobile teams are “on full alert, 24 hours in 7 days of the week”, as he published emergency service numbers, where citizens could be headed in case of need.

Rating commissions in some municipalities have begun to identify the damage caused by the floods. In these municipalities, damaged citizens can apply for damages compensation.

The Cline municipality has invited citizens to appear at the Public Services and Emergency Services Directorate from January 23rd to January 30th to complete the damage assessment applications. The Podujevo Community has made similar invitations.

But, Sazan Ibrahimi, executive director of the Kosovo Communist Association, says municipalities can do very little “in this direction”, as they have only the identity of damages.

The “those [who have suffered damage] must wait until the situation calms down, then the damage assessment will be made, the lists will be sent to the central level. After various checks, then to start the reimbursement of citizens affected by these” phenomena, Ibrahim says of the REL.

The Kosovo Communist Association has called for an emergency fund to be established for cases of natural disasters such as floods, fires, etc.

The “Burocracy that is envisioned with existing legislation should be cut short. Citizens need immediate financial support, not, for example, for example, to once become the identities, as it is now. For now, it lasts for months [the procedure] until the citizen benefits from these funds”, Ibrahim says.

He adds that the other problem represents the inability to review the budget on the part of municipalities, which, he says, could not predict natural disasters when they adopted the budget in September 2022.

Free Europe Radio has sent questions to the Government of Kosovo, the South Mitrovica municipality and the Skokyright Community for steps to be taken, but until the publication of this article, there is no response.

What can be expected in the next few days?

Ibrahimi says that before the lists for compensation of damage can be sent, rainfall must initially be stopped.

However, the Kosovo Hydrometeorology Institute (IHMK) has warned that the situation could become even more difficult, since it is forecasted to resurface rainfall.

This situation could make the situation more difficult because the water flows of these areas are in their maximum capacities. The lands, especially those in flat areas, are overheated with water and are limited to their absorption capacity, or earth's moisture in the surface layer”, are said in an IHMK report released on Sunday.

Several Kosovo areas have also been flooded in November 2022, but the country has often faced floods in recent years.

The Kosovo government has said in a statement that in addition to sancing the damage caused, the causes should be addressed.

For many years, river beds have been damaged without permission, forests have been deforested, and infrastructure projects have been carried out without any planning. These have obviously exacerbated the situation after the rain rains”, the Kosovo government said.