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http://www.un.org/peace/kosovo/news/update.htm

UN INTERIM ADMINISTRATION MISSION IN KOSOVO (UNMIK)

Developments today, 10 September 1999
Updated 2:30 p.m. EST
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Civilian Administration

Kosovo Transitional Council: The Kosovo Transitional Council meeting next Wednesday has been, by mutual agreement of all parties involved, cancelled. The KTC meetings will be resumed on Wednesday, 22 September.

Kosovo economy: UNMIK has begun to put in place basic institutions and a legal framework for a well-functioning economy. The Kosovo Economic Policy Advisory Board was established this week and held its first meeting under the co chairs from Pillar 4 (Economic Reconstruction and Development) and local experts representing the political spectrum in Kosovo. The local co-chairman, Mr. Arji Begu, is an eminent Kosovar economist. The advisory board will guide UNMIK on building the Kosovo economy so that ultimately UNMIK can transfer a functioning system to meet Kosovo’s requirements. Specifically they will examine regulations on economic issues before being signed by the Special Representative. Yesterday the Advisory Board established its working groups on: Fiscal Policy, the Financial Sector and Enterprises and Property.

Power outage: For two days Kosovo experienced an unusual blackout, and subsequent interruption of water supplies because the water pumps are powered by electricity. UNMIK officials in charge of utilities were working yesterday to resolve the problem. Basically energy comes to Kosovo from a combination of sources: local power plants and loans from across the borders. On 8 September, the interconnection line linking Kosovo to Krusevac, Serbia, failed, probably due to a lack of maintenance. The failure caused Kosovo A, the only power plant operating within Kosovo except for a small hydroelectric plant in Gazivoda, to shut down. Efforts were made immediately to import electricity from Albania via a line from Prizren to Feronikel (Glogovac), however the current was let in too quickly causing the line to become overloaded and eventually to fail. While UNMIK attempted to repair the situation quickly, a lack of radio communication equipment made it difficult to synchronize the efforts of different repair teams working along the damaged lines. The good news is that UNMIK has secured financing for power sector operations through the winter. The physical state of the power, water and heating sectors remains highly precarious, but the most urgent repairs have begun.

Other developments

Secretary-General’s Special Representative to brief Security Council: In New York, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Bernard Kouchner, today reported on UNMIK to the Security Council.
     Kosovo must work to break "spirit of revenge", Kouchner tells press in New York: The United Nations in Kosovo was succeeding in reducing crime and establishing a civil administration in the territory, but with the wounds of recent suffering still fresh, it would take time to build a multi-ethnic Kosovo, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo said.
     Dr. Bernard Kouchner, who had earlier briefed the Security Council on recent efforts of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), told the press in New York that it would take years for the UN and the people of Kosovo to break the "spirit of revenge" that was still being fuelled by discoveries of mass graves and repetitive violence against minorities.
     Nonetheless, Dr. Kouchner said, the efforts of UNMIK to stabilize Kosovo and establish a functioning civil administration were moving very quickly. The UN had been able to bring all major political groups together in the Kosovo Transitional Council, which was now meeting on a regular basis.
     To address the vital concern of security for minorities, UNMIK was developing a new initiative to protect Serbs by placing UN police and civil affairs officers in Serb communities. The some 97,000 Serbs estimated to remain in Kosovo must be made to feel safe in their environment and the 130,00 Kosovo Serbs who were now refugees in Serbia must, someday, be made to feel safe to return, he said.
     "We must get more UN staff to be close to the people in the villages, not only in the capital," Mr. Kouchner said. The presence of UN staff, explaining the goals of UNMIK directly to the people would support the development of a democratic process in Kosovo, and facilitate the holding of local elections as soon as early spring, he said.
     Already the level of crime, particularly arson, in Kosovo was decreasing due to active policing by UN international civilian police, he said. There were now more than 1,000 UN police in Kosovo, with some 450 officers patrolling Kosovo’s capital, Pristina.

For daily updates on activities of each UN entity in the field, you can access up-to-date information on the following websites:

                 UNHCR - www.unhcr.ch
                 UNICEF - www.unicef.org
    UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - www.unhchr.ch
                 ICTY - www.un.org/icty
                  WHO - www.who.org
               UNEP - www.grid.unep.ch/btf
                   WFP - www.wfp.org
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For further information, contact the Spokesman's Office:
tel (212) 963-7161/2; fax (212) 963-7055.

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