The Government of Republic of Srpska accepted today during the 69^th session the Proposal of the Rule by Decree on Changes and Amendments to the Law on Protection of Population against Infectious Diseases.

In accordance with the current epidemiological situation with regard to the outbreak and spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease caused by this virus - COVID 19 in the Republic of Srpska and taking into account the seriousness of the situation and the importance of compliance with public health measures, this Rule shall regulate general, special and emergency measures established by the current Law in case of declaring a state of emergency and possibility of taking emergency measures even after the end of an emergency situation or state of emergency. A new measure is foreseen in performing inspection supervision and the competence to exercise control by the Ministry of the Interior and the communal police in the part related to the use of personal protective equipment and the observance of protective measures of physical distance in public areas whereas the fine for the offense is increased for a responsible person in a legal entity, entrepreneurs and individuals.

The Government approved the Proposal of the Rule by Decree on Amendments to the Law on Social Protection.

In a situation of the state of emergency in Republic of Srpska and due to current epidemiological situation and spread of coronavirus (SASR-CoV-2), the work of expert commissions  are in charge of assessing the needs of children with development difficulties and the level of physical disabilities of children has been suspended in certain local communities. As a result, recognition of the right to personal disability allowance for children with disabilities up to 18 years of age and implementation of the current Law on Social Protection which entered into force on January 1, 2020 has been halted. This Law stipulates that the right to personal disability allowance is determined based on the established amount of physical disability and the level of bodily impairment for children under 18 is established by the expert commission that makes an assessment of the needs of children and youth with disabilities according to the Rulebook on the procedure of establishing the level of bodily impairment.

For that reason, the Government of Republic of Srpska has set the Proposal of the Rule by Decree on amendments to the Law on Social Protection, which prescribes the possibility of determining the bodily impairment for children under 18 according to regulations governing the medical expertise in pension and disability insurance sector  and the exercise of the right to personal disability of the persons concerned.

Considering that all children who have used the right to personal disability allowance by January 1, 2020, already have the amount of physical impairment determined by the expert body according to the regulations governing medical expertise in retirement and disability insurance, this regulation stipulates that on the basis of the bodily impairment thus determined, those persons may be granted the right to a personal disability allowance by an interim decision, and that, after the completion of the procedure and determination of the amount of bodily impairment by the expert commission for needs assessment of children and youth with disabilities, to recognize the right to personal disability benefits in the amount that belongs to them according to the thus determined amount of bodily impairment, i.e. that they will be recognized the difference in the level of rights.

Also, children who have not been beneficiaries of the right to personal disability benefits, and who submit a request for recognition of rights in accordance with this Regulation, may exercise the right to personal disability benefits based on the amount of bodily impairment determined by regulations on medical expertise in pension and disability insurance sector pending completion of the applicable proceeding.

This Decree enables children to exercise the right to personal disability allowance even before the end of the procedure and the determination of the amount of physical impairment by the expert commission, so that they are not denied this right due to the current epidemiological situation.

This measure was proposed by the Coordination Board of Associations of the Disabled People of Republic of Srpska with the aim of protecting the interests of children with disabilities.

The Government adopted the Proposal of the Rule by Decree on amendments to the Law on  special procedure of expropriation for construction of the Corridor Vc Highway through the Republic of Srpska and construction of the section of the Highway "9. January "Banja Luka - Doboj and Proposal of the Decree on amendments to the Law on Special Expropriation Procedure for Construction of the Highway and Gas Pipeline of Vukosavlje - Brčko and Brčko - Rača Sections.

The reason for enactment of these decrees are issues and relations that arose due to circumstances that could not have been foreseen at the time of passing the Law on Special Expropriation Procedure for Construction of Corridor Vc Highway through Republic of Srpska and Construction of Highway Section "9. January " of Banja Luka - Doboj and the Law on special expropriation procedure for the construction of the highway and gas pipeline sections Vukosavlje - Brcko and Brcko - Raca as failure to pass these amendments could cause detrimental consequences for Republic of Srpska in terms of protecting the property of high value such as infrastructure projects.

Also, in the course of implementation of applicable laws, certain shortcomings have been noted noted, which need to be eliminated in order to prevent procrastination and carry out a special expropriation procedure for the realization of the mentioned projects, and to avoid detrimental consequences for the Republic of Srpska and for the citizens.

The Government accepted the Proposal of the Rule by Decree on acceptance of the debt of Republic of Srpska debt to the World Bank - International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for implementation of the "Emergency Project COVID-19 for BiH" in the amount of EUR 13,240,100.00 under favorable credit conditions with a repayment period of 32 years and  a grace period of seven years.

The purpose of the project is to prevent the occurrence of new cases of infection, to contain the local transmission, to have limit strategies and positive impact on persons in social need. The activities covered by the Project will include strengthening of health care and social protection, but also strengthening of veterinary care, support for environmental protection and equipping laboratories for the rapid identification of COVID 19 pathogens, as well as disinfection and repair of contaminated surfaces.

The Government approved the Draft Law on Anti-Hail Protection.

Reasons for enactment of the Law on Anti-Hail Protection is related to elimination of the deficiencies of the existing Law, improvement of the anti-hail protection system, harmonization of regulations with the neighboring countries, defining and clarifying the basic concepts of anti-hail protection and especially after realization of the project "Establishment of technical-meteorological service and modernization of the anti-hail protection system of the Republic of Srpska". There is also a need for greater control over the collection of fees for financing of the  systems and to unburden the budget of the Republic of Srpska and to raise the provisions of the Law to a higher level of functioning bearing in mind that this Law regulate activities of common interest for the Republic of Srpska and its citizens.

The Government adopted the Information on realization of the reform in the field of preschool, primary and secondary education in the Republic of Srpska from January 1 to 31 March 2020.

It is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Culture, in cooperation with the Pedagogical Institute, the Institute for Adult Education and professional bodies formed within the process of education reform, to continue implementation of measures and activities set out in the Action Plan respecting the set deadlines for its implementation and expected results.

As stated in the information, the Action Plan for implementation of reform processes in the areas of preschool, primary and secondary education in the Republic of Srpska is based on the following principles: school as a healthy, safe and stimulating environment, child in the center of the educational process, trained teachers, motivated and empowered to work in school in the 21st century - from teaching to learning and digitization of schools.

The Government of Republic of Srpska acknowledged the Information of the Civil Protection Administration about the Decision of the Council of Ministers of BiH by which 10 million euros intended for implementation of humanitarian demining projects in BiH are redirected for the needs of COVID -19 and the issue of migration.

The Government of Republic of Srpska has agreed that Civil Protection Administration of Republic of Srpska should apply for the aforementioned funds, given that those are IPA funds for support of mine action teams in BiH and that part of those funds are intended for the Civil Protection Administration of the Republic of Srpska.

It is the responsibility of the Civil Protection Administration to apply for EU funds under the IPA Program in the amount of EUR 1 million with the aim of providing additional financial resources and equipment needed to take measures to prevent the spread and limit the effects of the coronavirus.

Civil Protection Administration is instructed to carry out all activities related to the implementation of the assistance of the European Union in coordination with the Ministry for  European Integration and International Cooperation of the Republic of Srpska.  

The Government adopted the Proposal for a program of animal health measures in 2020.The program sets the measures for prevention, detection, control and suppression of infectious and parasitic animal diseases in Republic of Srpska. The aim of this program is early detection, prevention and spread, monitoring, control or eradication of infectious diseases and provision of a system of marking, registration and traceability of animals in order to protect humans from infectious diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans.