MINIĆ: A BACKUP OPTION EXISTS FOR THE BRČKO DISTRICT AREA

BIJELJINA, JULY 10 /SRNA/ - The Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Savo Minić, stated today at the construction site of the Belgrade-Prijedor highway, in the village of Brodac near Bijeljina, that regarding the problems in the Brčko District area, there are several options, and that a backup option also exists.

"The people of Republika Srpska and Serbia, as well as myself, are interested in seeing the first layers of asphalt laid down up to the Brodac interchange in the next month, where we have certain property and legal problems concerning Elektroprenos, the relocation of power lines, and so on. We are creating all possible technical and legal solutions," Minić told reporters in the village of Brodac.

He expressed satisfaction that the works are progressing at a good pace, and thanked the Government of the Republic of Serbia, which delivered a donation yesterday as well - a tranche for the construction of this highway.

"I am most looking forward to the integrated border crossing," said Minić.

He pointed out that the highway will certainly reach there by mid-October and that they will look for modalities regarding the Brodac interchange on how to connect from this highway to the roads in Republika Srpska.

"Immediately after this visit, we are going to the Brčko District Government, that is, to Mayor Siniša Milić, to agree together with the public enterprise Autoputevi Republike Srpske and representatives of the Ministry of Transport and Communications and all those involved in this project, to see how to permanently ensure that the passage through Brčko is resolved," Minić said.

He emphasized that a modality will be found so that the construction proceeds according to schedule.

"Here, you see under what conditions more than 300 workers are working and nothing is at a standstill. Right now, as we are giving this statement, on one side alone, more than 10 trucks have already piled up," Minić pointed out.

The responsible construction manager, Tomislav Miljović, said that on the Rača-Bijeljina highway section, the subgrade layer is currently being prepared, the construction of the buffer layer starts next week, followed by the construction of gutters.

"At the seventh kilometer in Brodac, we are making embankments for the overpass ramps, and at the end of the route, at the 20th kilometer, we are finalizing the construction of the embankment. Otherwise, over 90 percent of the gravel embankment has been installed on this project so far," said Miljović.

He stated that the embankment slopes are being arranged simultaneously, and works on excavating a 2.5-kilometer-long canal are underway.

"Also, works on the construction of the internal drainage are being carried out. After the completion of the gutters, at the beginning of August, we will start works on the construction of cement stabilization so that we can begin asphalting in mid-August," Miljović pointed out.