“Solid Waste Management and Recycling Practices in Local Governments” Experience Sharing Program for Gracanica Municipality of Bosnia and Herzegovina in cooperation with Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) and Başiskele Municipality was held in Kocaeli on 8-10 December 2021.
The program was attended by Council Head of Gracanica Municipality Nihad Krajinovic, Secretary General of Gracanica Municipality Dzenana Tukulj, Manager of Gracanica Public Service Company “Komus” Senad Memic and Mayor’s Advisor of Development Projects Advisor Senad Smajlovic.
Delegation of Gracanica Municipality first visited Mayor of Başiskele M. Yasin Özlü in his office within the scope of the program. During the visit, the strengthening of cooperation between Municipality of Gracanica and Municipality of Başiskele and the realization of joint projects were discussed.
Mayor of Başiskele Yasin Özlü said, “We are happy to welcome you in Başiskele. By exchanging experiences with such programs, we ensure that our local governments come to a better point. Başiskele Municipality is one of the leading municipalities in Turkey in terms of solid waste management and recycling practices. I hope this program will be beneficial for our delegation”.
After the visit, a presentation was made to the delegation about the waste management works of Başiskele Municipality. Then the delegation visited IZAYDAS. The delegation visited the solid waste and waste sorting projects in company with the experts and saw how IZAYDAS works and what advantages it has.
On Friday, December 10, 2021, the second day of the program, the delegation went to Istanbul and visited TDBB. The delegation met with TDBB Secretary General Fahri Solak at the headquarters of the Union and was informed about the activities of the Union.
During the meeting, Council Head of Gracanica Municipality Nihad Krajinovic said, “The program has been very productive for us. Before the program, we wanted to do this with a municipality experienced in industry and economy, and Başiskele Municipality is a developed municipality in this regard. The city of Gracanica is an industrial city with auto spare parts production facilities. We want to be a sister city with a municipality from Kocaeli, which is industrially developed in Turkey. As Gracanica Municipality, we have other projects as well. We expect the support of TDBB in this matter as well.”
On the other hand, TDBB Secretary General Fahri Solak said, “We were pleased that the program was productive. It was important that it be a thematic program. As TDBB, we are ready to cooperate with Gracanica. Our relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina are very strong. When we receive your official request for finding a sister city, we will start working and we will find a suitable municipality for the Municipality of Gracanica”.
The program ended with the presentation of Certificates of Participation and a souvenir photo taken to commemorate the day.
