Surdulica, A Year Later

Collateral Reconstruction

The plan was to turn the demolished houses of Vojislav and Stojadin Milic into a memorial park. Later on, this idea was abandoned so that the construction of new houses began and celebration on that occasion was organised. And that was that.

AIM Podgorica, March 25, 2000

(From AIM correspondent from Belgrade)

In the coming months Surdulica, a nice little town in the south of Serbia, close to the Bulgarian border, will be faced with traumatic memories of the last year's NATO strikes. The shelling began on April 6 and the horrid balance is the following: 50 houses razed to the ground, some 500 buildings heavily damaged that will have to be pulled down, some 150 people more or less seriously injured and names of thirty Surdulica denizens inscribed on the monument in the town centre testify of tragic consequences of the "collateral damage".

At noon on April 27, a missile hit family house of Vojislav Milic in Zmaj Jovina Street. Nine people lost their lives under the rubble, out of which six from Milic's closest family: his wife, son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren.

On that same day the missiles hit the following streets: Drinske divizije, Jugoslovenska, Beogradska, but luckily there were no casualties. Four days later, on May 3, the target was the Special Hospital (sanatorium) where 19 people were killed on the spot and another person died two days later because of the injuries sustained during the attack.

Vojislav Milic, a man whose life the war made utterly miserable, wanders around the yard full of left over construction material. He is unshaved, wearing mourning, his look blank. He speaks softly, listlessly.

He is living in the old house which, by some miracle, remained more or less intact. Why, then did they build him a new one? "You will see now", he says. "Judge for yourself whether anyone can live there."

Although the house looks finished on the outside, it is evident by its surroundings that something was started here and then abandoned. It is surrounded by deep trenches and unconnected sewerage pipes which are sticking out of the foundations. Inside, there is nothing apart from woodwork, if you overlook the mess - chipped wooden scaffolds, tubs with mortar, empty beer crates, and all sorts of rubble and garbage. Doors cannot be closed and windows are propped up by wooden bars. Vojislav removes one bar and the whole window frame almost fell on his head. In the cellar, ten inches from the earth floor, peeled off mortar - traces of water that was left there after heavy rains. "I had one of the largest and newest houses in Surdulica", tells Vojislav, "and look what I got. They took some hundred square meters from me, but I wouldn't mind had they only finished this one".

"Why hadn't they? I don't know. Ask Miroslav Stojiljkovic, President of the Communal Assembly of Surdulica and a contractor from Sabac. He knows. He built this house, but spent the entire autumn working on his own. Ask him has he finished his house?

First, they pressured me and my brother Stojadin to agree to have our houses built somewhere else and let this be turned into some kind of a memorial park. We agreed under pressure, but later on they gave up the idea so they started building us houses on this location. They marked the beginning of the construction and then stopped. I no more expect anything from the state", continues Vojislav. "I will only try to get to Milutin Mrkonjic (the first man of the Directorate for the Reconstruction and Construction) and Milan Milutinovic (President of Serbia) to tell them what they have done. I can only thank Dragan Tomic and "Simpo" for the roof material for the old house, drain pipes and some furniture they gave me - a bed, carpet, six chairs and a small table. I have been to the commune several times, but each time they sent me to the Vranje construction firm "Novogradnja".

"I got 13,000 dinars for each killed family member and some rice and macaroni. What do I need them for? Give me something that I cannot find in the shops, and these I can buy myself. Also, I had more than DEM 70 thousand foreign currency deposit in the Vranje "Beobanka" and my late wife Stamenka kept some DEM 25 thousand inside her blouse for our son's car. After the tragedy, they gave me only DEM 700. Can you imagine! They said, that was all they could scrape up. When Mirko Marjanovic came here I wanted to see him. What do you mean why? To complain", concludes Vojislav.

Three buildings with 22 flats were built in the Drinske divizije street. Here, everything seems spick-and-span and yet it is evident that at least half of the flats are unoccupied. "Look at these buildings", continues Vojislav, "before this war there were some shacks here, more like sheds. Everyone fared better than me. They had no bathrooms, no kitchens, no man could live there. Now they have everything, they get food and all sorts of help. I heard some of them say that they are so grateful that they would like to put up Clinton's photo on the wall", says Milic with bitterness.

On the grounds of the Special Hospital (sanatorium) the building of a new in-patient clinic dominates the surrounding dilapidated pavilions which look inhabited - curtains on the windows and few pots of flowers here and there. Refugees live here. In front of the clinic, which was razed to the ground during the shelling, a sculpture and a memorial tablet with a well-known phrases: "The world always consisted of builders and destroyers..." and the information that on June 22, 1990 the Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Marjanovic declared the beginning of construction works and laid a foundation-stone for the new building. In early December that same builder opened the newly built clinic for use, but it is still empty and the patients are hospitalised in the outbuildings.

In the meantime, the Prime Minister was awarded with the September Liberation Medallion of Surdulica for results achieved in the construction and reconstruction of the country at the key-presentation ceremony for ten new houses and 22 flats, which was, naturally, adequately reported by the Serbian RTV. However, is everything as it seems.

In the Jugoslovenska street, opposite the barracks, another three new houses. The owner of the first one, Slavko Velickovic praises the state and leadership to the skies: "We are overwhelmed by what they have done for us. The new house is the same size as the one that was demolished, with a bit different lay out, but it suits me. They also gave me furniture. True, the contractor tried to make a botch of it, but since I am a civil engineering technician by profession, I was constantly with the workers and controlled them. I repeat, if I had a chance I would kiss Milosevic's, Tomic's and Mrkonjic's hands" speak Velickovic with exaltation.

The next house is quite another story. It belongs to the old Bozilovic couple, 76-year old Dusanka and 79-year old Dobrivoje. With one voice they say: "We are not satisfied one bit. First, why haven't they built the new house where the old one used to be? Second, the old one was 100 square meters large and the new one only 70 - why did they rip me off for 30 square meters? When I protested, the contractor threatened to stop the construction and leave me on my own. And what have they done?" asks Dobrivoje rhetorically. "They have not connected the sewerage system yet and there is something wrong with the wiring so that the switch is not functioning. Door and window frames are of poor quality and the drain pipes are no good. The staircase is so narrow as if ants would be climbing it, and on top of it, it has no railing. I am old and fear that I might fall. And the cherry on the top is this bb.., bar. Yes, a bar. What do we old people need a bar for? As if we intend to open a café at this age. I complained, but to no avail", says Dobrivoje with disappointment.

The house of Slobodan Milic, Vojislav's nephew, was also knocked down on that tragic day. "There were five commissions and none brought any decision. They gave me 100 construction blocks and I used them to start building. When I used them all up I had to stop. I have no job and my wife is pregnant. All the goods I had in the shop that we lived on, were destroyed and I cannot reopen it as it has been proclaimed unsafe for use and has to be pulled down. I went to see the President of the Commune, he sent me to CIP (Central Planning Institute) and when I asked them for help they promised all kinds of things and sent me to the construction firm "Novogradnja". People in "Novogradnja" told me they had nothing to do with it. This is a vicious circle" says Slobodan helplessly spreading his arms.

Two houses were torn down in the Beogradska Street in the symbolically named settlement of Piskavica (screaming). A suburban settlement with muddy streets; probably only NATO knows what were its targets here. Among the unplastered houses, two newly built houses, stand out. In the first we are warmly welcomed by Draganka Cvetkovic who told us how she was buried under the rubble for hours: "Thank God for the well-meaning people. I am content now and we shall see will happen next. We lost all our belongings, but we shall make do somehow. The new house is much bigger than the one that was blown up, but the main thing is that we are alive. I tell you I am satisfied with the house, but another problem is bothering me: I was unable to work because of the consequences of the shelling so that on September 10, "Yumko" from Bijelo Polje sent me to the unemployment bureau. And to make things worse, my 23-year old son is also unemployed although he was in uniform all the time. What shall we live on?" wonders Draganka.

Her next-door neighbour, Radica Ristic, is playing with her grandson who was born immediately after the war. "I thank God that we have stayed alive, but also the state. Measured in cubic meters my old house was bigger, but unfinished. Although this one is smaller, it is finished and it is mine. I am only dissatisfied that we did not get any basic stuff we need, not even a TV set, while others got them. The commune gave us only a cot and a heater, while the secondary and agricultural schools, in which I work as a cleaning woman, helped us with some money", concluded Radica.

In the end we come again to the sad dump of Vojislav Milic. Across the street are the two new houses built as a part of the construction and reconstruction programme. By their quality they stand out from all other houses we saw. "The first one belongs to Milorad Andjelkovic, a red Cross official", replies Vojislav. The door to the second one is cheerfully decorated by a flower arrangement - perhaps a sign of a recent wedding? Vojislav, his face expressionless, tells us that it belongs to Slobodan Milosevic.

Goran M. Antic

(AIM)