Roma in Ribnica to get water supply when they start meeting their obligations

In line with the agreement, the National Council of the Roma Community together with the Roma from three villages in the Ribnica municipality will draw up an action plan for the inclusion of the Roma into the society by 5 September.

"When the integration is under way and its results are seen in practice, the municipality will do its part," Mayor Samo Pogorelc said.

According to him, the Roma from Otavice will have to sign an agreement setting their obligations, including that they will send their children to kindergarten and school, clean up the village, set the boundaries of their land and find a job. "Only then will we be able to reach an agreement on drinking water," he said.

The Roma from Goriča Vas will need to get integrated as well. The mayor said the municipality is now working to legalise the village and once this is settled and the Roma get integrated the village will be connected to the public water supply system.

However, the Roma will first need to leave the land that they occupied illegally, he said.

Pogorelc noted that the Roma living in the village have not been paying electricity bills for almost a decade, as they simply use the electricity from a near-by overhead power line.

"I can say that today's meeting was successful in theory, but now it is up to the Roma to put theory into practice," Pogorelc said. He expects help in implementing the agreement to come primarily from the Slovenian Roma Association, which initiated today's meeting.

The head of the association and of the Council of the Roma Community, Jožek Horvat Muc, said the council agreed to implement certain measures in the Roma villages, especially to make sure children go to kindergarten and school, that other integration programmes get under way and that success is regularly assessed. "It's important that everyone does their part and then we'll see what we've achieved," he said.

He said a lot would depend on how the community will react to today's agreement. "Because we can make agreements all we want, and hold talks, but if they are not implemented in the village we'll need several more meetings," he said.

He asserted that the Council of the Roma Community will be present in Ribnica more now.

Amir Hudorovič, a representative of the Roma from Otavice, indirectly assured they will stick to the agreements reached today.

Pogorelc also commented on views that the Roma have the right to drinking water guaranteed by the constitution. He said that the constitution indeed says that everyone has the right to drinking water but noted that the law says that only legally built houses can use the public water supply system.

The Kočevje municipal council also discussed Roma-related issues at a session on Tuesday, and urged the inter-ministerial task force to speed up its work, because as a government advisory body it is the only body that can propose changes.

The council also called on the government and the Interior Ministry to start tackling the staffing issues in police. Other ministries were urged to adopt measures to encourage employment among the Roma and encourage parents to send their children to kindergarten and school.

The situation in Kočevje has improved after police presence has been increased following a school violence incident. "But we all know that such police presence cannot last, so we need to start looking for more systemic solutions as soon as possible," Kočevje Deputy Mayor Gregor Košir told the STA.