UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel
OSCE Spokeswoman, Claire Trevena
EU Spokeswoman, Betty Dawson
UNMIK Spokeswoman Susan Manuel
Mr. Haekkerup's visit
Mr. Hans Haekkerup, the incoming Special Representative of the Secretary General, continues his briefings with UNMIK officials today. We have issued a press release describing his activities yesterday. Today he has met with officials of UNHCR to discuss returns of minorities and the situation of minorities in general. He is also meeting with OSCE chief of mission Daan Everts to discuss election preparations, media and human rights.
At a working lunch with political officers, the topic will be defining interim self-government and how to prepare for the general elections in Kosovo later this year. In the afternoon, Mr. Haekkerup will discuss with UNMIK legal advisers office the legislative authority of the Special Representative of the Secretary General. He returns to Copenhagen this afternoon from Pristina Airport. He will return here on 15 January to take up his duties.
Depleted uranium
Meanwhile, UNMIK and Dr. Bernard Kouchner have been following very closely the recent reports regarding depleted uranium and possible radiation effects. We are taking these reports very seriously, however we have little concrete information at this point. As you know, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) sent a team of scientists here in November to study the presence of radiation at and around the sites where Depleted Uranium. There is also a WHO (World Health Organisation) study under way of the risks of Depleted Uranium in general
This afternoon, Dr. Kouchner will be discussing the issue with representatives of the World Health Organisation as well as the Department of Public Health.
Mine incident
From the police, in Kacanik, a farmer stepped on a land mine yesterday and lost a leg. Although this is the first reported mine accident in three months, it unfortunately serves as a reminder that unexploded ordnance does remain on the ground and does threaten normal people's, particularly in the countryside.
Also from the police, the body of a 3 to 4 months old infant was found in a garbage dump yesterday in Podujevo. The cause of death is currently not determined.
OSCE Spokeswoman, Claire Trevena
Ambassador Everts, and senior staff from the OSCE are meeting with the SRSG designate to brief him on OSCE's role here in the past and plans for the future.
Essentially, we will be building upon the work which we have done over the last 17 months. That means: on the ground, we will continue to work with NGOs, with local media outlets and training the Kosovo Police Service.
Underlying all our work is the promotion of democracy and the promotion of justice. This is for the whole of Kosovo society - for its people and for all its institutions.
Democracy of course does mean elections. We still don't know when they will be, but the preparation is continuing. And democracy also means working with NGOs, political parties and individuals.
The OSCE's focus over the coming year is going to be very much on the human dimension, building their capacity - that means - for example - assisting both new municipal assembly members in understanding their role as local politicians, as well as helping the incipient Kosovo civil service through our Institute of Civil Administration. It means working with members of the legal profession, through the Kosovo Judicial Institute and through the Kosovo law centre - as well as monitoring what the Kosovo judicial system is doing.
As I said earlier, we will continue training the Kosovo Police Service Cadets - and over the year there will be shifting emphasis on to more specialised training for those who have been in the field for many month, a shift into management training, and a shift into specialised investigation techniques.
The development of people also includes training of journalists - the OSCE will be continuing its journalism training. And it will be working with journalists to protect them from harassment.
There is NO press release on this outside, but as the year progresses we will be talking to you in detail about all these issues.
EU Spokeswoman, Betty Dawson
Power situation
All power being used in Kosovo is as the result of imports. There is no power being generated at the moment.
Unit B2 is out of action because of a leak in the boiler and a fire in the combustion grate. Repairs are ongoing and B2 is expected to be back in operation in about 2 weeks time.
A4 went out of action yesterday due to a leak in the boiler but is due back into service later today. Power is being supplied by way of imports from Bulgaria (340 MW) and Montenegro (100 MW).
The main problem is the damaged transformer on the 400 KW line at the Kosovo B substation which limits distribution of available power. A temporary solution is expected to be in place by the end of this month. Until this temporary solution is in place, load shedding will occur whenever energy demand exceeds 590 MW. At the moment, the times of peak demand are roughly from 8.00 am - 10.00 a.m. in the morning and from 7.00 p.m. - 10.00 p.m. in the evening. It is mainly during this time that load shedding will occur. The load-shedding schedule is in operation throughout Kosovo and is 3 hours with electricity and 3 hours without.
The District Heating plant in Pristina has been experiencing some short-term interruptions of the heating services during the past week. This is due to water supply problems. These problems are being discussed with the Batllava Water Supply Company and are expected to be resolved in the near future. During the heating services interruptions, Pristina Hospital District Heating plant supplied supplementary power.
Web site
At the moment, those of you living in the upper parts of Dragodan (including film city) do not have any water. This is because of a burst 250mm pipe. Repairs are being carried out and the work will be completed by this afternoon and water supplies in that area will return to normal later on today.
The Public Utilities Department has established its own website (www. Kosovo-pud.org). the website contains general information about the department and the daily electricity situation report is posted onto the site everyday by midday.
Questions
Q: Why, after all this money - 80 millions Euros - invested in power plants in Kosovo B2 mainly, we still don't have electricity today in Kosovo?
BD: We do have electricity, though it is imported. These imports cost a lot of money. The 80 million Euros you are referring to are actually 80 million DM which was invested in repairs for major parts of B2 in the generating section. However, as you realise, the power sector in Kosovo has suffered abuses and ill treatments over the last ten years. So, that is only a small path of the reconstruction program that the EU has involved in. It is only the start. For 1999-2000, we have invested 355 million DM in the power sector alone, plus 267 million DM have been committed. That means that we have the commitment there to spend the 267 millions DM, but we just haven't got the contracts signed. That's quite a lot of money. The power sector always takes a lot of money no matter what country. And Kosovo is not the only place in the world which has a load shedding. Load shedding occurs in America, in Florida for instance. That is all the way through the year there. I read an article recently about power problems in India. So Kosovo is not on his own, but we are spending lot money. There is a lot of work to be done and we are doing this as a part of the reconstruction program that we have assessed and have committed ourselves to. There is more money going to be invested this coming year. So it is ongoing.
Q: Don't you think that this money could have been better used by building a new power plant?
BD: To build up a new power plant, that is a technical assessment. I am not that technically minded, so I can't give you direct answers. But, I know there would have been a delay in completing a new power plant. At that moment, it was not feasible. We needed to supply power in some form and some way to the population within Kosovo and its citizens. This is our answer to that.
Q: Will these problems continue through all the winter? Do you expect more troubles during the wintertime?
BD: I cannot say that we will not have any problems during the wintertime but there is a temporary solution to be ready by the end of this month. There are plans to bring more parts from Kosova A back into line. The supply and the generation of power are not totally reliable, but they are working very hard at the power plant to insure that we provide as much of our own power as possible. These technical faults that occur will occur in an old system. We are gradually sorting those out, trying to do maintenance and trying to get better parts to set into the machinery which generates