Czech minister wants to include Janov among excluded localities

Dzamila Stehlikova, Czech human rights and minorities minister, today said she will propose that the cabinet put Litvinov’s Janov, a housing estate with mainly Romany population, on the list of excluded localities, which facilitate Janov’s access to state funds.

At a meeting with the Litvinov town councillors Stehlikova said the excluded locality status will help Janov draw money that is designed to finance social street workers and crime prevention.

The excluded localities are places where branches of the government’s agency for social integration in Romany communities operate.

Stehlikova also said she would strive for the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry, the Education Ministry, the Local Development Ministry and the Interior Ministry to be more involved in the agency’s work.

"These are ministries which can bring much to the excluded localities, and through which means from the EU flow in," Stehlikova said.

For the time being, the Litvinov town hall has to finance everything it has done for the Janov housing estate. This can be expected to change, Stehlikova said, adding that the town may register the change early next year.

In past few years, unadaptable people from other regions and also from Slovakia have settled down in Janov. The situation is tense in the area.

Right-wing extremists’ marches to Janov recently developed into their sharp clashes with the police. The extremists marches are aimed against the Romany inhabitants of Janov whose bad manners the radicals say bother their "white" neighbours.