First Doors Installed in Derventa: the Upgrade of SALW and Ammunition Storages in Bosnia and Herzegovina Begins

The Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina (MoD) and UNDP/SEESAC, with the support of UNDP Bosnia and Herzegovina, begun their joint work on improving SALW and ammunition storages in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 1 August 2012, the installation of secure doors in the storage site of Rabici has been completed.  This is the first in the series of upgrades planed.

The joint project envisages the upgrade of four storage sites: Krupa in Hadzici and Kula I and II in Mrkonjic Grad, which currently hold ammunition stockpiles, as well as Rabici in Derventa and “TBT“ in Visoko where weapons are stored. The works are planned to be completed by the end of the fall of 2012.

The storage upgrade activities are funded by the European Union (EU), under the EU COUNCIL DECISION 2010/179/CFSP, dated 11 March 2010, in support of UNDP/SEESAC arms control activities  in the Western Balkans, within the framework of the EU Strategy to combat the illicit accumulation and trafficking of SALW and their ammunition.

There are currently over twenty storage locations across Bosnia and Herzegovina where SALW and ammunition are stored. The BiH MoD hopes to bring that number down to seven locations where all SALW and ammunition stockpiles can be held under high security standards, therefore improving the safety of the local population and dwarfing possibility of illicit arms proliferation.

With the support of the European Union, UNDP/SEESAC has successfully  completed similar projects in Montenegro and the Republic of Croatia, and has recently commenced another such project with the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Serbia. The reconstruction of the ammunition storage site “Taraš” in Montenegro was finalized in May 2011, while the Infrastructure and security upgrade of the Croatian Ministry of Interior's central weapons storage "Murat" was completed in November 2011.

See Media Clipping covering the installation