Site Profiles: Interviewee Areas of Kosovo

Obilic/ Obiliq & Vučitrn/ Vushtrri Municipality: Plemetina Village, Plemetina Camp, Crkvena Vodica and Prilužje
Site Profiles: Plemetina Village & Plemetina Camp | Crkvena Vodica | Prilužje  | Kosovo Polje

Obilic/ Obiliq & Vučitrn/ Vushtrri Municipality : Prilužje  

Prilužje lies in Vučitrn/ Vushtrri Municipality , 2 KM from the Obilić/ Obiliq municipal border. The village lies 3 KM north of Plemetina Village .

Security & Transportation

Prilužje’s population has complete freedom of movement as far south as the Plemetina Camp. After, they have none. The secondary road through Prilužje that leads to Mitrovica cannot be safely used past northern Prilužje.

The Kosovo Polje- Mitrovica/ Zvecan train runs through Prilužje twice a day. UNMIK buses run several times a week to Plemetina, Obilić town and Gracanica.

Economy & Infrastructure

Prilužje has one restaurant (that often runs out of food) and a few private homes that have been converted into cafes/ bars. There are a few hairdressers’ salons, a ill-stocked pharmacy, and several shack-shops that sell beer, cigarettes, coffee and other items. Produce is produced and sold locally. Prilužje also has a cultural center and radio station.

Prilužje hosts a non-operating textile mill.  Most of Prilužje’s inhabitants worked for KEK before June of 1999. After, they were all fired.

Prilužje is 80- 90% unemployed. The Roma are almost all unemployed.

Telephone service has been disconnected by PTK for non-payment. Like Plemetina, Prilužje is not within Mobtel’s mobile coverage reach. Alcatel phone numbers and credits are too expensive for most villagers.

Electricity is better in Prilužje than Plemetina Village ; Prilužje is on the grid that powers Vucitrn. Electricity is still, like most of Kosovo, weak and intermittent. Water quality is better than Plemetina, but is still poor.

Education

Prilužje has a primary and secondary school. A medical secondary school has many students from Plemetina. Most Serbs have completed secondary school.  

Roma Prilužje’s Mahalla lies northwest of the town center. The Mahala is almost entirely unemployed. Most Roma are Bugurdjije; many have completed primary school, but few have completed secondary. No Prilužje Roma have attended university. A few Roma males work as blacksmiths or manual laborers for the Serbs. Children engage in recycling/ manual labor activities. The Prilužje Roma leader is Ferki ‘Beco’ Emini.

Demographic Information

Prilužje has between 3000-3300 Serbs. Roughly 500 are IDPs.