More than 15 hectares of orchards and forest were burned in
the vicinity of the village of Berivojce, near Kamenica on Monday evening, RTV
Puls reported. The fire broke out on Sunday afternoon, causing the most damage
to the property of Zoran Simic from Berivojce. More than 400 plum and cherry
trees belonging to Simic were destroyed. It is estimated that direct damage,
counting only the loss of the destroyed fruit, amounts to €10,000, while the
costs of rebuilding fruit production will be several times higher.

„Both Serbian and Albanian property burned. I do not know
who is responsible for the fire, but I know the damage is massive. I will have
to get rid of all this and form a new orchard, but I do not have the money to
do that,“ Zoran Simic told Puls.

He also asked the Serbian and Kosovan institutions to
provide help as soon as it is possible, in order to avoid losing the entire
year because it is high time for spring planting.

Simic’s orchard is located in an ideal location, in the
immediate vicinity of the village, and the fruit it produces is superb every
year.

„I usually produced three to five tons of various fruit of
top quality and sell it in the market, on which my five-member family lived
on,“ said Simic, one of the few farmers in the Kamenica region that deals with
fruit growing.

The orchards and forests of Simic’s neighbors also suffered
damage.

The police conducted an investigation and are currently investigating the causes of the fire. There are no indications to assume that it was arson.

See at:https://bit.ly/2FnDUTT