The Icelandic Canadian - 01.08.2001, Blaðsíða 12

94
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 56 #3
We certainly have a new perspective on
life—our problems seem pretty miniscule.
Tuzla means salt and they have a lot of
it. For several hundred years, they have
dug the salt out from under the city.
Unfortunately, to day this is now causing
the buildings to sink, and the downtown
core is in big trouble. They also have a lot
of coal. Their electricity is produced by
huge coal burning generators. They look
like nuclear reactors in shape and they
belch acrid smoke which fills the valley.
On some days the smell and smog is so bad
that people have to leave their doors and
windows closed. Last weekend our driver
took us up into the mountains surrounding
Tuzla and as we looked down there was
this horrible smog below. We took lots of
deep breaths of fresh air while we were
there.
However, we do have electricity, unlike
Serbia. We hear that in Belgrade they are
shutting off the electricity for four to eight
hours each day. Alma went to visit her
grandmother whom she had not been able
to visit for 10 years. She lives in the
Republic of Serbia. Before the war this
family was well to do and now Alma says
they are poor and have few prospects. She
gave them some of the money she earns
from the Canadian Urban Institute so that
they can purchase medicine and other
essentials. Alma’s mother, who is deceased,
was a Serb and her father is a Muslim.
These mixed families were not unusual in
Tuzla, which prides itself in being what
they refer to as an “open city.”
We were given an autobiographical
book written by the Mayor in which he
describes what happened from the begin-
ning of the war to the end. It is a real eye
opener as it took a long time for help to
come. It includes actual letters he wrote
requesting help as well as information
about terrible atrocities that took place
here. He was nominated for a Nobel Peace
Prize. There is a general hope that The
Hague will take care of many of the people
responsible, but they feel that it will take a
long time and not every criminal will be
punished. We heard on CNN that
President Bush will consider removing
some of the SFOR troops from the
Balkans. If that happens, European coun-
tries will have to step in. The soldiers that
we see here in Tuzla are mostly American.
They drive around in full combat gear in
Hummers, with machine guns on the roofs.
We are getting used to seeing rifles and
handguns on the soldiers, but it doesn’t feel
good being too close to them. We have seen
militia from Sweden and Denmark here
too. We are told that their assignment here
includes instructing the local police in
proper police procedures.
Len and I are just getting our feet wet so
to speak, so far as setting up our office and
contacts. We will be bringing over some
Canadian experts in a variety of fields. Our
first order of business is working with the
Tuzla Urban Institute on a major spatial
plan. Because of the changes in population
and infrastructure, an amazing amount of
information must be ascertained before
planning can start. Our first expert will
have knowledge of Geographical
Information System (GIS).
We will be putting on a workshop,
which will include the Mayor of Budapest,
Hungary. They did a similar plan within
the past 10 years, so their input will be
valuable. Len, Alma and I will take the
Director of the Tuzla Institute to Budapest
in a couple of weeks to have a first hand
look at the area that they planned. Then
Len and I will go to Slovakia to meet with
the Mayor there. We will be working with
them as well.
Another area that I would really like to
get involved in is solid waste management.
Everywhere you look, there is garbage
piled up. The infrastructure is still in a state
of disrepair and they are having difficulties
deciding where to put the stuff. Equipment
was damaged during the war and it takes a
lot of money to replace. Landmines limit
the choices for a garbage site as they have
been laid to obstruct the use and recon-
struction of infrastructure. There is a river
here that flows through the city on a
cement base. We had some heavy rains and
the river was flowing with plastic bottles
that had been lying on the banks of the
cement. I have never seen so many plastic
bottles and the thought of them ending up
in a lake is mind-boggling. I have been told