Construction of the highway on the Adriatic-Ionian corridor would certainly give added impetus to the insufficiently employed construction sector in BiH, said Dzemal Kalajdzisalihovic, secretary of the Association of Construction and Construction Materials Industry of the BiH Foreign Trade Chamber.
Part of the Adriatic-Ionian highway through BiH is marked in public as one of the priorities for a transport connection between BiH and the region and beyond, and is on the level of the Corridor 5C highway in terms of importance.
“To what extent it would contribute to the growth in activities in BiH construction for now is unrealistic to discuss, because it would depend on a series of factors. In the first place, where the course of the motorway would go, and whether the major part would cross the territory of BiH, and then what would be the length of the route through BiH, as well as whether BiH construction firms would have the strength to be the workers on this project or whether they would simply be subcontractors on individual parts,” Kalajdzisalihovic told Fena.
Certainly BiH has an interest in building the majority of the roadway through BiH, but, as Kaladzisalihovic added, reality is something else entirely.
“In the first place this would depend on resolving problems connected with building the Peljesac bridge. Second, we should keep in mind the strategic interests of BiH and Croatia. It must be borne in mind that BiH has a strategic interest in linking Corridor 5C with the Adriatic-Ionian Highway on its southernmost point. On the other hand, Croatia’s strategic interest is that the highway pass through its northernmost point, that is, as close as possible to Mostar,” believes Kalajdzisalihovic.
How these strategic issues will be resolved, according to him, remains to be seen.
Kalajdzisalihovic adds that on these solutions to a great extend will depend the eventual route of the Adriatic-Ionian Highway through BiH and its impact on the growth in activities in the construction sector in BiH during its construction.
“So far some preliminary studies on the possible route of the Adriatic-Ionian Highway through BiH have been made, but the FTC has thus far not participated in their consideration and work. Although the FTC has significant cooperation with the communication and transport ministry of BiH, thus far we have not cooperated on issues of the Adriatic-Ionian Highway across BiH,” said Kalajdzisalihovic.
Source: Oslobodjenje.ba
