A team of the Balkans Task Force, based in Pristina, is concentrating its efforts on creating mechanisms for land title registration, resolving tenancy and property disputes, and strengthing municipal adminstration and leadership. Existing housing and property legislation contravenes a variety of internationally recognised human rights provisions. Following the recent conflict it is apparent that a great number of properties are illegally occupied.
Urgent action is required to reform the legislative framework.
Cadastre records have also been damaged, destroyed or moved. As these form the basis for restoring housing rights, taxation, registration and urban management, action is required to reconstruct the cadastre system across Kosovo. Municipal government in Kosovo was neither truly representative nor effective due to the preponderance of centralised authority and functions. Given the vacuum in civil adminstration, there is an urgent need to create structures and procedures to meet the immediate needs. Another team of international environmental experts left yesterday Belgrade, after visiting the worst damaged industrial sites, mainly in Serbia, resulting from the Kosovo crises.