Drenas

Drenas
Town and municipality
Albanian: Drenas Serbian: Глоговац/Glogovac
Emblem
Location of the municipality of Drenas within Kosovo
Coordinates: 42°37′N 20°54′E / 42.617°N 20.900°E / 42.617; 20.900Coordinates: 42°37′N 20°54′E / 42.617°N 20.900°E / 42.617; 20.900
Country	Kosovo[a]
District	District of Pristina
Government
• Mayor	Ramiz Lladrovci PDK
Population  (2011)
• Urban	6,143
• Municipal	58,531
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	13000
Area code(s)	+383 38
Car plates	01
Website	kk.rks-gov.net/gllogoc

Drenas (also interchanged as Glogovac in Albanian or Serbian: Глоговац), is a town and municipality located in the Pristina District in central Kosovo.^[a] According to the 2011 census, the town of Drenas had 6,143 inhabitants, while the municipality had 58,531 inhabitants.

Geography and population[]

Drenas municipality is located in central Kosovo, between the Čičavica mountains in the east and the Drenica hills in the north and west. The main road from Pristina to Peja crosses the municipality.

At a junction at Komorani village, a smaller road extends north from the highway, passing through Drenas town and continuing to Skenderaj. There are a total of 36 villages in the municipality. The municipality's population prior to the 1999 bombing was approximately 58,579 made up almost entirely of Albanians, with a small number of Serbs and others chiefly in the urban area. No minorities remained in the municipality, thus Drenas-Glogovac today reflects a mono-ethnic environment.

History[]

Train passing the "Guri i Plakes" in Dobroševac (Dritan)

The municipality of Drenas was established before World War II. While the Yugoslavs were in power economic growth was low. Since 2000, there has been a gradual improvement in economic, agricultural, educational, medical and industrial growth. Municipal development has affected the construction of network-educational system, health and service network intensifying agricultural development has become especially after the construction of the irrigation system "Iber Lepenci", while a positive movement for the economy is marked by Ferronikeli, a local mining and smelting operation.^{[citation needed]}

Prior and during the Kosovo War (1998–99), the ethnic Albanian separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) had a strong level of influence and during the war controlled large areas of the municipality. Drenica, including the municipality was consequently badly affected. During the war, there were instances of massacres carried out by Federal Republic of Yugoslavia forces. Mass graves were later exhumed in an attempt to conceal crimes.^[1][2]

Services, media and NGOs[]

Internet services[]

The strongest local Internet providing company at the area at the time is Kujtesa. Other companies like Sky Net and Galaktika were established after the war at 2002 and are some of leading companies at the region.

Local and international NGOs[]

The number of international NGOs has been reduced since 2000, while their activity level can be described as modest. Only the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) continues here while the few other international NGOs working in Drenas are mainly based in Pristina. These include Swiss CARITAS and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC). The most prominent local NGOs are Mother Theresa Society (MTS), the "Council for Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms", Shpresa, Aureola, Gresa, Nora, and Handikos. The KLA War Veterans Association, KLA Invalids Association, Friends of KPC, Pensioners Association, Glogovac Hearing Impaired Association, Union Fund of the Republic of Kosova (UFORK) or the so- called "Bukoshi Fund" are active in the municipality as well.^[when?]

Local media[]

There are no local newspapers, except two temporary magazines "Realiteti" (a youth magazine) and "Spektri" (local magazine). However, there are four correspondents residing in Drenas working for major newspapers based in Pristina. There are two Radio Stations, "92.1 Capital FM" broadcasting on a regional coverage, and "Radio Dodona" of which at the moment is not operating for unknown reasons, and there is a local TV station "Star TV" broadcasting on cable only.^[when?]

Sports[]

• KF Feronikeli
• KB Feronikeli
• KFF Feronikeli

Police, civil protection, and military presence[]

Police is under the KPS^{[clarification needed]} management since July 2003. 15 UNMIK^{[clarification needed]} International police officers are mainly assisting and advising. The number of KPS is 99.^{[citation needed]} They are all Kosovo Albanians. The Norwegian contingent of Kosovo Force (KFOR) was taken over by the Finnish Battalion of KFOR in July 2003. The Finnish team enjoy the support of the community and has excellent co-operation with UNMIK Police, UN Civil Administration, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other members of international and local communities.^{[citation needed]} The Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), a civilian defence unit and the successor of the KLA, numbers 60 members and is still dependent on the Regional Training Group (RTG) 1 Zone located in Skenderaj.

Economy[]

UNMIK, KFOR and NGOs are the main employers in the municipality, while the majority of the population is employed in family-owned, small sized, private businesses like shops, car washes, and petrol stations. Most businesses have officially registered with UNMIK. The municipality is an agricultural-based, rural one with wheat and maize as the primary crops. Before the conflict, a socially owned agricultural enterprise dominated the production but was destroyed. As a result, a large portion of the arable land is not cultivated as of today. The cattle farm in Krajkovo is now a temporary community shelter.^[when?]

The Ferronikeli mine and smelter operation provided jobs for more than 2,000 people at the peak of its production in 1988.^{[citation needed]} As of 2019, it was "the largest exporter in Kosovo, accounting for about 40% of the country's exports".^[3][4] While the presence of significant ore deposits was noticed as long ago as 1958, the plant was commissioned in 1984 while the Socialist FRY was in power.^[5] The deposits are of the lateritic type.^[6] Heavy damages were inflicted on the facility during the 1999 conflict, leaving it inoperable. Ferronikeli was privatised after the war by Alferon Management. Since July 2018 the most recent owners are called Balfin Group, who took over the project after it had been idle for four months.^[7] The plant contributes to the infrastructure of the municipality with power, including water supply and an electric grid. Four nickel mines operate in the region: Čikatovo, Dushkaja, Gllavica and Suke.

Two quarries at Korroticë e Ulët and Çikatovë e Vjeter have become operational since the conflict.

A major development is the building of the Trade Centre, which was completed by mid-2004. The municipality played a central role in the whole process by co-ordinating the financing, construction and management of the project. The Trade Centre contains 134 shops and offices for small businesses.^{[citation needed]}

Infrastructure[]

The roads in the municipality range from good to poor. The main road has been redone. Local roads in the town and roads in the majority of villages remain a primary concern. During rainy or icy weather conditions it is difficult to reach some of the more remote villages due to the poor road conditions. All over the municipality there is a great lack of appropriate sewage systems in place, although in some areas the system was rehabilitated during 2001 and 2002. Telephone land lines are operational and the usage of mobile phones is the main form of communication. Electricity is available with daily power cuts, similar to the rest of the country. Latest developments include work done on the sewage network in Bushat and Drenasi II, construction of Court building and restoration of the Town Hall. Furthermore, the decision by EAR to discontinue the housing reconstruction program negatively impacted on the municipality where 1171 homes remain to be rebuilt.^{[citation needed]}

Social services, health, and education[]

According to the information from the Social Centre, there are 2,166 families receiving social assistance. A specialized team is dispatched to deal with traumatized people and domestic violence problems. A Health Center and six small Clinics serve the immediate need of the population. A lack of sufficient amount of medicine and specialized equipment is notable.^[when?] The outstanding issue of reimbursing the additional staff has been a major issue during 2003 and 2004. Despite the allocation of funds during the course of last year, no similar provisions have been made for 2004. In 2002 eight new buildings, including elementary schools and one pre-primary school were built, while in 2003 an additional primary school was constructed. There are 21 primary schools, 2 secondary schools and 2 pre-primary school.^[when?] The quality of teachers is less than desirable as many of them do not have the necessary qualifications.^[when?] The overcrowding of schools presents one of the most persisting dilemmas for the municipality.^[when?] The additional of “9th” class has further overburdened an existing malfunctioning system.^[when?] There is a need for more kindergarten facilities, pre-primary and primary schools, and upgrading of the existing schools.^[when?] Another persisting problem is the effective de-politicization of educational institutes, intensive training for the teachers and revision of the curriculum.^[when?]

Notable people[]

• Izet Ibrahimi – Former Mayor of Drenas, Phd of Metallurgy
• Jakup Krasniqi – Former Chairman of the Assembly of Kosovo
• Rifat Kukaj – Notable Poet, Writer for Children
• Iljaz Prokshi – Novelist
• Rainer Wieland – Vice President of the European Parliament, honorary citizen of Drenas^[8]

See also[]

• District of Pristina

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Glogovac.

• Official website
• Skynet Internet Services
• OSCE municipal profile of Gllogovc / Glogovac
• Turkish and Albanian project
• "Ethnic Cleansing" in the Glogovac Municipality
• SOK Kosovo and its population