UMCOR assists with bridge building in Bosnia
9/1/2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom · (646) 369-3759 · New York By United Methodist News Service A reconstructed pedestrian bridge will open Sept. 7 in the Bosnian city of Mostar, thanks to assistance from the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).
The bridge is one of many projects in the Mostar region that is being implemented by UMCOR through funding from the Dutch government. Robert Harris, UMCOR's head of mission in Bosnia, said the agency remains "highly committed" to establishing peace and restoring normalcy to all people in the former Yugoslavia.
The Bosnian war left Mostar a divided city, split down the middle between ethnic Croats and Muslims, "one of the country's most visible and dangerous fault lines," according to the New York Times.
The new bridge is a temporary substitute for the Ottoman-period bridge destroyed by artillery in 1993. Replacing an earlier temporary bridge washed away during winter floods, it provides a vital economic link between the east and west sides of the river. UMCOR engaged the Kovina Construction Co. of Mostar to do the building, and funding came from the Mostar city administration as well as the Dutch government.
UMCOR also has completed or is currently implementing projects in the areas of shelter, income generation, streetlights and traffic lights for the Bulevar (the main boulevard dividing the city), agriculture, community development and infrastructure in the Mostar region.
Through reconstruction and infrastructure projects completed since 1993 in the former Yugoslavia, UMCOR has supported the return of more than 15,000 families of all ethnic groups to their homes and towns. The agency also has been involved in job training, job creation, and reconciliation and human rights programs.
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