Enlighteners

I often recall the years when, not only from my native Banjan, but from all parts of Montenegro, educators went to work in SR Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The Pedagogical Academies in Sarajevo and Mostar could not provide enough staff for numerous primary schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Pedagogical Academy in Nikšić educated more teachers than the SR Montenegro could employ. Children from rural areas, when they went to secondary school, began their tenant life, which continued during their studies, and then during work, whether they lived in urban or rural areas. Rare teachers were considered lucky if they worked in schools that had their own residential buildings, which meant free housing, decent living conditions and freedom. After returning from BiH in the 90s, many continued or restarted the tenant life, and only a few managed to get a job in their native Montenegro. Children, born outside of Montenegro, were "harassed" by the state administration, related to registration in the register of citizens, which is why many still have problems today, including being "labeled" for being born outside of Montenegro. I personally felt the burden of tenant life for 16 years. In contrast to today's practice, where people try to rent an entire apartment, I lived in informal small rooms, sharing common rooms with other tenants.

Today, the competent institutions in Montenegro do not have records of the number of tenants, which number in the tens of thousands, while the number of people who own 4, 5 or more apartments is a secret, because these transitional rich people not only acquired the apartments in various ways, but also do not pay taxes to the huge funds they collect from rents.

The most neglected and poor of our educators, especially primary school teachers, where there are fewer and fewer students, are not creditworthy to borrow money from banks in order to solve the housing issue. Those who do not live in a home community with their parents (which is also tenant status), go to tenants, like former (YU) educators. A large number of professors from Nikšić did not resolve the housing issue, while some, at the end of their working life or after retirement, secured apartments through the Housing Cooperative of Educators "Solidarno", so long-term loans (60% of the price of the apartment) have to be repaid by their descendants.

Even though every day and year of their tenant life is hard and long, especially since the apartment has to be emptied during the summer, the construction of a building for educators in Budva has been going on for over ten years, which has forced the teachers of Budva children to go on hunger strike and they are camping in front of the municipality building. During all the past years, they fought for the Housing Cooperative "Solidarno" to meet the promised deadlines, but there was always a lack of money, and the care of co-investors, the state and society was completely absent. The former tenants, who were struggling with the landlords of the tourist metropolis, received the keys to the apartments in the building, which is being built on a landslide and, after ten years of construction, the apartments are already devastated. Without electricity, water and landscaped driveways. In the most developed Montenegrin municipality, our professors live with bare feet, without everything they need for life. Many apartments are almost unusable due to floods, destroyed parquet floors, walls and ceilings. This is how the state of Montenegro takes care of its professors, who witnessed the Budva flood and the outflow of funds worth hundreds or thousands of professors' buildings.

For the sake of comparison, back in 1983, my poor (grieving) parents were assigned by the PIO Fund to use a "new" completely devastated apartment, in which nothing worked, from electrical installations and appliances, to sanitary facilities, to the door. After 2-3 years of moving in, due to the shoddy construction of the building, leakage began, which continues today, with greater intensity. The PIO fund sold the apartment to my mother as new and at an enormously high price. Today Budva educators are buying "new" old apartments, which proves that, even after almost half a century, nothing has changed, because scams are in fashion, and carelessness towards people has become a tradition.