The Mayor of the Municipality of Kolašin, Petko Bakić, has repeatedly asked the local police for assistance in implementing the project to redirect the Ljevaja River for the needs of water supply to the ski centers on Bjelasica and snowmaking for ski slopes, or to remove the residents of Mušovići Rijeka who have already prevented the contractor from passing through to the construction site several times.
The same was done by representatives of the "Sigilum Co" consortium, with whom the Capital Projects Administration signed a contract for the preparation of technical documentation and the execution of works on the construction of hydrotechnical infrastructure for the needs of the ski center.
This follows from the Police Directorate's response, which was delivered to "Vijesti" yesterday.
Residents of the Kolašin village of Mušovića Rijeka have been opposing, as they say, the river being led "uphill" through pipes to Bjelasica for months.
Some of them told "Vijesti" on May 13 that they had received information that the head of the Regional Security Center "North", Haris Đurđević, had arrived in Kolašin, and that he had also met with a representative of the contractor in that city, and that the topic of the meeting was the forced passage through their properties and the seizure of the Ljevaja River.
The Police Directorate said that Đurđević, in accordance with his regular duties, tasks and responsibilities, was on a working visit to the Kolašin Security Department that day, "which is one of the organizational units within the Regional Security Center 'North' which Đurđević heads."
"He held a working meeting with the head and associates of the Kolašin Security Department in the official premises of the Kolašin Security Department, all with the aim of raising the level of security in preparation for the summer tourist season, and planning increased activities within the jurisdiction of the police, which was attended by, in addition to representatives of the Police Directorate, the President of the Kolašin Municipality and the Head of the Municipal Police of the Kolašin Municipality," the UP said.
They state that one of the topics of the meeting was "providing assistance to the Municipality of Kolašin and the Municipal Police of the Municipality of Kolašin in relation to several requests that were sent to the Kolašin Security Department on behalf of this Municipality by the Mayor of the Municipality, which specifically relates to the problem of implementing the water supply system project that provides the necessary quantities of drinking water, sanitary needs, fire protection and snowmaking for the ski trails of the Kolašin 1600 and Kolašin 1450 mountaineering centers."
"Regarding these requests, the Police Directorate, the Kolašin Security Department, in all previous cases, due to the failure of the applicant (Kolašin Municipality) to meet the prescribed conditions, has informed that the legal requirements for providing assistance have not been met," explained the UP.
“CLARIFICATION OF LEGAL PROCEDURE”
The security institution emphasizes that, specifically, the topic of the meeting was to clarify the legal procedure to the applicant, i.e. representatives of the Municipality of Kolašin, on the conditions that must be met in order for the Police Administration of the Kolašin Military District, independently or with the assistance of other organizational units of the Regional Security Center "North", in accordance with the security assessment from the field, to provide assistance in the process of executing their decisions:
"In accordance with the Rules on Providing Assistance to State and Other Bodies in the Procedure for Enforcement of Their Decisions (Official Gazette of Montenegro, No. 16/2024 of 23.02.2024) and Article 34 of the Law on Internal Affairs (Official Gazette of Montenegro, No. 70/2021, 123/2021, 3/2023 and 84/2024), which precisely define the conditions for providing assistance to state bodies, state administration bodies, local self-government bodies and local administration bodies in the procedure for enforcement of their decisions."
They denied the claims made by residents of the village of Mušovića Rijeka, presented in the issues of "Vijesti" - that Đurđević came to Kolašin with representatives of the contractors, but they confirmed that representatives of "Sigilum" also attended part of the meeting.
"It is not true that Mayor Haris Đurđević came to Kolašin together with representatives of the company 'Sigilum', whose representatives attended the part of the working meeting that related to the problem of starting work on the implementation of the water supply project. On this occasion, the legal procedure in relation to the specific case was explained to them. Therefore, it was emphasized that in accordance with the legal procedure, representatives of the aforementioned company cannot submit a request to the Police Directorate for assistance in the implementation of the project in question, but that in accordance with the previously cited legal and by-laws, police officers can, when the conditions are met, provide assistance only to state bodies, state administration bodies, local self-government bodies and local administration bodies in the process of implementing their decisions," the Police Directorate said.
Responding to the question of "Vijesti" at whose request Đurđević intervened in the dispute between the locals and the contractor, and whether, after he decided to participate in the dispute, he was aware of the numerous objections from the lay and professional public to the planned project of water supply to private tourist facilities and artificial snowmaking for the ski center on Bjelasica, but also that the locals claim that there will be a shortage of water for the needs of the village and the operation of one of the oldest hydroelectric power plants in Montenegro, they said that the head of RCB "Sjever" did not intervene in the dispute.
"Djurdjevic did not intervene in the dispute at anyone's request or on his own initiative, but rather the aim of the part of the meeting on this topic was primarily to clarify the role of the police in implementing the specific decision to all stakeholders involved in these activities: representatives of the Municipality as applicants, the Municipal Police - which has the authority to provide assistance and apply its authority in implementing the Municipality's decisions, and representatives of the company that is the contractor of the aforementioned works, and on that occasion, Chief Đurdjevic informed them that any action by the police outside the previously cited legal and by-laws would be illegal. We emphasize that the officers of the Police Administration do not get involved or take sides in any potential disputes between the villagers and the contractor in relation to the stated opinion of the lay and professional public that the implementation of the aforementioned project could jeopardize the water supply of the village and the operation of one of the oldest hydroelectric power plants in Montenegro, but will act exclusively within the framework of their legal authority relating to providing assistance to state bodies, state administration bodies, "to local self-government bodies and local administration bodies in the process of implementing their decisions, in situations where the conditions stipulated by law are met," said the UP.
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