Making Kakanj Safe and Sustainable Through Innovative Prevention Methods

The Municipality of Kakanj has adopted innovative methods of protecting the safety of citizens through which it has realized the importance of prevention and preparedness in emergencies, and not just of a response when a disaster hits. Brought together in the working groups that were formed as part of the Local DRR Platform, through numerous training sessions and workshops, they learned new methods of strengthening the resilience of the local community and society to emergencies.

The Head of Kakanj Municipality, Mirnes Bajtarević, says that new knowledge has changed the approach to work of numerous services in this municipality in terms of responding to an emergency, which has led the residents of Kakanj to realize the importance of a proper response in an emergency.

“Compared to earlier concepts, the focus is now on prevention and preparedness, and not only on the reactive response to disasters, which ultimately results in smaller losses and less damage, which is certainly a benefit of the new approaches and experiences”, Mr Bajtarević said.

The local population and employees in the administrative bodies of the Municipality of Kakanj are now more prepared to recognize more quickly the risks that threaten them in the event of a disaster and thereby take the necessary actions to reduce the disaster risks.

Mr Bajtarević emphasizes that the Municipality of Kakanj recognized the importance of participating in the DRR Programme since the negative consequences of disasters are reflected in society as a whole, as well as in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the country and the region.

“High-quality, targeted and specific programmes and projects, as well as the adaptation of regulations, have a concrete effect on strengthening the resilience of local communities, and thereby of the society as a whole. In this regard, it was necessary to assess the risks in the Municipality of Kakanj in order to make it more resilient”, Mr. Bajtarević said.

The DRR Programme in the Municipality of Kakanj was implemented through five different areas of activity, the child and social protection sector, rescue service, education, health and agriculture. Representatives of the Local DRR Platform have finalized plans to improve the protection and safety of citizens in each of these areas. After assessing the risk and vulnerability of the residents, they developed emergency preparedness and action plans.

The Head of the Municipality, Mr Bajtarević, emphasizes the importance of the activities of the Social Welfare Center Kakanj, which prepared a series of planning documents for the protection of children and socially vulnerable groups of the population. Today, the Center's employees are more prepared to act preventively in emergencies, which will be supported by the protective equipment they receive as part of the DRR Programme.

The Municipality of Kakanj also received new premises for family counselling and psycho-social support for families with children with developmental difficulties and children from other vulnerable groups. Head of Municipality Bajtarević says that through good collaboration with the project team, the premises of the counselling centre are equipped and safe for work.

The teachers and students of the “Kemal Kapetanović” Secondary Technical School also got a safer workplace. A member of the Local DRR Platform from the education sector, Emina Mandra, who serves as Head of the Department for Social Activities in the Municipality of Kakanj, says that she is grateful that also the school in Kakanj got the opportunity to participate in the Programme.

Teachers and students of the “Kemal Kapetanović” Secondary Technical School attended numerous workshops and drills where they learned disaster risk management methods. The school also received funds to replace the asbestos wall coverings with a thermal facade and install a fire alarm system.

“Children and workers are much safer from fire and are not exposed to the extremely harmful effects of asbestos. They are trained to deal much better with the risks of disasters, which has improved their quality of life. The most useful for them was the evacuation drill, through which we could clearly see the results of their work at the workshops and raising awareness about protection against natural disasters”, Ms. Mandra said.

The emergency action plans in Kakanj were developed by both health workers and farmers. The Municipality of Kakanj points out that the measures provided for in these plans significantly improve the quality of life of the residents of Kakanj.

By implementing the activities, the Head of Municipality Bajtarević believes that the DRR Programme has opened up new perspectives for representatives of the local government in Kakanj.

“By abandoning earlier approaches and introducing new perceptions, the benefits for the local community and raising the quality of lives of citizens can be seen, and the cross-sectoral action alone achieves greater effects of planned actions in emergency situations”, Mr Bajtarević concluded.

In addition to the implementation of the numerous training sessions and adoption of action plans in the Municipality of Kakanj, as part of the DRR project, a pump was procured for protection and rescue purposes, a project was developed for the rehabilitation of the Vrtača landslide and the rehabilitation of part of the Trstionica riverbed in settlement of Kraljeva Sutjeska.

The Municipality of Kakanj is one of the ten partner local communities of the Joint Swiss-UN Programme “Disaster Risk Reduction for Sustainable Development in BiH”. The main goal of the Programme is to support local governments in BiH in improving their institutional capacities for disaster risk reduction, frameworks, public services and partnerships. The Programme supports citizens, especially the most vulnerable groups, and the high-risk local communities in BiH in order to prepare for and adapt to the disaster risks, as well as to ensure that the population in the areas exposed to risks is less vulnerable to the social and economic consequences of disasters and climate change.