Finance Committee adopts govt report on floods

BELGRADE - The Serbian parliament Committee on Finance unilaterally adopted on Monday the government report on the major floods in May and suggested that the parliament should adopt it as well.

Presenting the report to Committee members, advisor in the Finance Ministry Marko Lazarevic underscored that around EUR 30 million worth of aid has been raised so far and that the focus of attention has now shifted to recovery.

Commissions comprising UN and World Bank experts are still running field examinations in order to draw up damage estimates, he said.

The report is almost complete, Lazarevic said and noted that he will be prepared for the Tuesday meeting in Paris as the introductory event ahead of the donor conference in Brussels on July 16.

During the debate, opposition MPs insisted that the section on responsibility has not been included in the government report.

The opposition also wanted to know whether the consequences of the floods could have been prevented.

Committee Chair Veroljub Arsic said that the report might have been drawn up in a better way and added that he is not trying to find excuses for those who did not do their share of work well.

The government report was filed to the parliament for adoption on July 2.

Photo Tanjug, J. Pap (archive photo)