Local Authorities Must Decide What They Want

by Haris VELIJEVIC

Danas, Belgrade, Serbia, Serbia-Montenegro, June 4, 2003

In the last four years Prizren has lost most of its rich cultural heritage and has ended up in the category of 100 most endangered cities based on the loss of cultural heritage. Dumitru Arnautu, specialist for conservation and restoration of old cities, who came with another four experts from Brussels to Prizren, established that the worst losses had occurred in the historical and urban center of the city, as well as in the architecture of minority communities. The worst affected were above all houses that residents dismiss as less important compared with cultural and historical monuments. Arnautu has visited Prizren with a group of experts under the auspices of the Council of Europe. Their task is to evaluate the current situation and propose measures for revitalization of the cultural heritage.

"Our mission is to convince citizens and local authorities to preserve houses, as that is the only way to preserve the appearance of their city," says Arnautu. He also emphasizes that there are no accurate data about destroyed houses and other cultural heritage. Restorers from Brussels are supposed to first work on the restoration of the old market, known as Arasta, then the Bistrica river riverbed, from its entry to its exit from Prizren. Another focus of experts from abroad will be Potkaljaja, the part of the city with mostly Serb population until 1999, which was under state protection. Arnautu says that Potkaljaja can be reconstructed, but that political will would be needed. Only a handful of Serbs remain in Potkaljaja, most of them elderly. Most of several hundreds of houses are empty, while some have been looted.

Displaced residents of that part of Prizren are willing to return to their homes, provided they can be guaranteed security and freedom of movement. They emphasize that thereby they would reconstruct their houses and bring back their "historical" beauty.

Diba Cufi, coordinator of the project, explains that the mission of the Council of Europe has the task to work on concrete projects and preserve remnants of the cultural heritage of Prizren. The project will be presented to the local authorities and the Council of Europe will provide most funding for the project, provided the local authorities agree with the plans for restoration. Experts from abroad are cautious since two years ago the local authorities rejected services of restorers from Europe.

"The Council of Europe is working here on the preservation of the remaining cultural heritage; ultimately, the fate of this project will impact future economic development of the city. If something is not done urgently, Prizren will lose its structure. It is well known that there are no active companies in the city. The only way out is tourism and cultural heritage can contribute a lot in that branch of economy," Diba Cufi said. As a former resident of Prizren she knows very well what the city lacks. She called on the local authorities to decide what they want. Whether they want to have an industrial and green city or a cultural center of this part of the Balkans. Prizren has lost its chance to be included on the list of UNESCO protected world heritage sites, so that the reconstruction of cultural values of the city will have to be financed by the local and provincial authorities and international organizations, which are trying to preserve history as much as possible.

International restorers in Prizren are visiting the city at the time the work on the reconstruction and expansion of the Prizren League memorial complex is in full swing. Local authorities and Kosovo government have invested $330,000 in fixing buildings in which 125 years ago the plan for the creation of "Greater Albania" and unification of all parts of Balkans where ethnic Albanians live was created.

Translated on September 16, 2004