Travel Kosova - Open Project

The municipality of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica lies approximately 40 kilometers north of Prishtina, covering an area of 350 square kilometers. It contains one town and 49 villages. The town itself and two of the villages are ethnically mixed, while the remainder is Kosovar Albanian.

Places and Culture
The vast majority of the population of the municipality is Muslim, including the Roma population. The Kosovo Serbs are Serbian Orthodox. There is also a small number of Catholics, who live both in the north and in the south part of the town.
The Catholic Church, also in the south of the town, was built in 1981. It had a congregation of approximately 500 before the conflict. Currently, there are an estimated 60 Catholics (Albanians, Croatians, and Slovenes) in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica south, while figures are not available for the number of Catholics living in the north.
The oldest and largest Muslim cemetery is in the northern part of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica, to the left of the road to Zvečan/Zveçan. Another Muslim cemetery is in Shupkovc, approximately two kilometres south of the town, on the western side of the main road to Prishtinë/Priština. For security reasons, the only accessible Muslim cemetery at the moment is in Shipol.

Economy
There is extensive unemployment among all communities throughout the municipality. This is due to a number of factors, including the closure of the Trepça mine and Lead smelting plant, looting and destruction at the battery and fertilizer factories, and influx of IDPs in the north and south. To some extent, it is offset by employment opportunities with international organizations.

While a number of small businesses have been established, particularly in the retail and catering sectors, sustainable long-term growth will require the provision of reliable energy and water supplies, the development of local banking and investment services, and above all, the reestablishment of confidence between the communities. To this end, the Kosovo Serb and Kosovo Albanian communities, together with UNMIK, have developed proposals for the creation of an economic development zone in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica City that will provide approximately 200 job opportunities in 11 different businesses. The main focus will be on the agricultural sector both in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica and the surrounding region. Funds for these programs are being sought. The banking problem has also been addressed by the opening of UNMIK approved branches of Kosovo bank agencies.

In spring a donor conference in Toronto, Canada discussed the issue of privatization of the viable parts of the Trepça complex. If successful, this approach could provide for an economic nucleus in the municipality and encourage new economic development. However, the complex is unlikely to employ the number of personnel as it did in the past, approximately 20,000 persons.

Infrastructure
The roads are generally in a poor condition, although they tend to be better in the north. The street across the Shipoll quarter towards Skënderaj/Srbica is one of the worst roads in Kosovo. Some significant repairs have been completed; however, a general overhaul is yet to be done. Setting up road signs and traffic lights has considerably increased traffic discipline, but the rapidly increasing number of cars leads to a chaotic and slow flow of traffic. Rail passenger services operate twice daily in each direction between Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje and Zvečan/Zveçan, although occasionally interrupted due to security reasons. In Mitrovicë/Mitrovica, only Kosovo Serbs use them. However, other communities also use the rail service as the train stops in different stations. Private bus services operate in the south, some with NGO support and there is extensive traffic with taxis and private vehicles. In the north, there are regular services to Zubin Potok and to Serbia proper (Novi Pazar and Belgrade) run by a publicly owned company from Serbia.

Considerable work has been done to improve the water network, with support from the EU, EAR, and USAID. The network covers Mitrovicë/Mitrovica, Vushtrri/Vucitrn, Skënderaj/Srbica, and Zvečan/Zveçan. Two separate companies operate under the supervision of the Infrastructure Directorate in the UN Regional Office. Water is taken from the Gazivodë/Gazivode Lake near Zubin Potok and treated in Shipolj (in the south of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica).

Electricity supplies are reasonably stable compared to the rest of Kosovo, although extreme disturbances have occurred during winter. Power is taken both from Obiliq/Obilić and from Serbia proper, through the Vallac station in Zvečan/Zveçan. Again, separate companies operate north and south, with technical co-operation being handled through UNMIK.

By Kosovo standards, telephone links, both land and mobile, are reasonably good. Two different companies (PTK in the south and PTT in the north) run the services. Co-operation between them is poor. ‘Serbian Telecommunication’ set up a new exchange, providing services in the north. While this has technically improved services there considerably, it leads to a situation that new telephone connections there can no longer be reached from the south. Mobile networks Mobtel and Alcatel cover the area, with Alcatel operational mainly in the southern parts of the region.

Two separate companies (Unitet and Standard) provide sewage and refuse collection services with support from DANIDA, who have invested heavily in new equipment. The landfill site in the south of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica has been restored by DANIDA. It is used by Mitrovicë/Mitrovica South and Vushtrri/Vucitrn. There is no official landfill site in the north; a new site is being sought. Charges for public utilities are being introduced, but their collection raises economic, political, and security issues.

There are medical facilities in both the south and the north. The Regional General Hospital in the north is currently only accessible to Kosovo Serb patients living in the northern municipalities as well as Kosovo Serbs from other areas of Kosovo, which have no access to medical facilities. Its staff does not receive stipends from UNMIK. The Paediatric Hospital is also located in the north; it includes a primary health facility. The Health House in the south provides outpatient services; in-patients are sent either to the KFOR Moroccan Hospital in the south or to Prishtinë/Priština Hospital. The Health House runs 12 ambulanta (local clinics) covering southern Mitrovicë/Mitrovica. Kosovo Albanian communities in the north who cannot travel to the south for security reasons are presently transported by KFOR to the southern facilities. Once a week, mobile teams visit a number of Kosovo Serb enclaves within the region, with a KFOR escort. The Institute for Public Health, located in the south, covers only this part of the town. Kosovo Serb staff is presently operating from the Institute for Public Health in Zvečan/Zveçan.

Education
Restrictions on freedom of movement and displacement of the population have had a significant impact on education. Educational establishments are accessible only to a specific ethnic community. In the southern part of the municipality there are two kindergartens, 10 primary schools (two of them attended by children displaced from the north), and four secondary schools (including three specialist schools of medicine, technical studies and economics respectively). There are also two high schools specializing in computing and electrical engineering. Four faculties of Prishtinë/Priština University are based in the south, including Technology, Mining, Metallurgy and Geology. This reflects the traditional economic basis of the region. KFOR provides transport to the south for those Kosovo Albanian children less than ten years of age whose freedom of movement is restricted for security reasons. The Kosovo Muslim Slav and the Turkish communities hold classes in a school in the south of the town.

In the north, there is one kindergarten, eight primary schools, and four secondary schools (three specializing in medical, technical, and economics). There are also two high schools specializing in computing and electrical engineering respectively. Finally, there is the Faculty of Mining and Metallurgy. In addition, there are five primary schools and one secondary school, which are attended by IDPs from other municipalities in Kosovo. In autumn 2001, a Kosovo Serb university was founded, comprising of the former rectorate and four faculties (Electro-technical, Mechanical Engineering, Architecture/Civil Engineering and Law) of the pre-conflict University of Prishtinë/Priština. The establishments attended by the Kosovo Serb students follow the Serb curriculum, but is attached to the UNMIK structure. There are two student dormitories in the north of Mitrovicë/Mitrovica.

Leisure facilities
The cultural and the sport centers are located within the Confidence Area, just at the south end of the main bridge, and a KFOR checkpoint is based in its immediate vicinity. The Cultural Centre contains a significant number of facilities including a big hall and a theatre/cinema. The Centre was recently refurbished by Kosovo Albanian and Kosovo Serb companies funded by the EU, UNDP, and Bolzano Province of Italy. It is under the supervision of the UN Municipal Representative and some celebrations and other events have taken place there. Also located in the south part of the town is the City Library that provides functioning library and internet facilities, run by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The City Library is used for public tribunes and for different cultural performances. There is also a city museum that is in need of refurbishment. The Sport Centre is opposite the Cultural Centre. It is used for sport activities and concerts. There are also two stadiums in the south of the town, but there are no sport facilities in the north of the town. The UN Administration has established two commissions, on culture and on sport, in which members of both Kosovo Albanian and Kosovo Serb communities are represented.

Sources: OSCE Mission in Kosovo