Despite the state's proclaimed fight against illegal construction, Naim Oruci He managed to build two buildings on state-owned land in the Utjeha - Kunje settlement and clear the forest to the sea. Oruči has managed to do this in the last three years, after the building he built on that state-owned land was demolished.
The police have filed a criminal complaint against Kosovar Naim Oruči (57) on suspicion that he built multi-storey buildings without a permit on two state-owned plots in the Utjeha - Kunje settlement in Bar, thus illegally occupying land and damaging the environment.
Without a construction report or documentation, on illegally occupied state land, extending to the seashore, he cleared the forest, partially leveled the terrain and demolished the rocky shore, creating cascades on the slope to the sea, about 600 meters long and 50 meters wide.
The police also said that they had collected information from several individuals, and that through a series of activities undertaken, they had come to the conclusion that the suspect, by carrying out all the aforementioned works on state land without the appropriate permits and documentation, had gained an illegal material gain of around three million euros, to the detriment of the Montenegrin budget based on unpaid duties.
In this way, the area was significantly devastated, the ambient appearance of the coast was permanently damaged and damage was caused to the environment, and everything was done without a permit or approval, on state land, according to the Police Directorate.
They explain that all this was determined on the ground by the Municipal Police and the Bar Municipality Inspection, as well as the Public Company for Coastal Zone Management.
Although the police boasted of filing criminal charges for several environmental crimes, in cooperation with the Basic State Prosecutor's Office (ODT) in Bar, locals told "Vijesti" that work has been underway on state plots 4107/23 and 4107/1 in the Cadastral Municipality of Kunje for three years, the time it took to create a bare slope from the hill to the sea and for two multi-story buildings to "emerge".
The Bar ODT told "Vijesti" that the case was filed with the state prosecutor on February 9th of this year. Kenan Muzurović and that it is in the reconnaissance phase.
"Vijesti" expects answers from the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, which is headed by Slaven Radunović, whether the Urban Planning and Construction Inspection acted in this case, and whether demolition will be ordered, as was the case three years ago.
Construction after demolition
The fact that construction has been going on on state property for three years is made even more alarming by the fact that the Kosovar suspect has done so before - on the same land.
In April 2024, the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism acted on a decision to demolish the building on cadastral plot 4107/1 KO Kunje because it was built without a construction registration and documentation.
According to the Ministry's decision from March 2023, which "Vijesti" has access to, it states that Oruči built the ground floor of a residential building measuring approximately 550 square meters and that it was built after the urban planning and construction inspector banned his construction in December 2022.
The same decision shows that Oruçi then tried to legalize the facility he built on state property. This was one of the arguments his lawyer, Arben Hodzic, stated in an appeal he filed on behalf of Kosovars against the demolition decision from three years ago.
The Ministry's decision states that he initiated the legalization procedure, of which there is evidence in the case files, but that, as it says, this could not have influenced the decision-making of the acting inspector, "taking into account the specific circumstances of the administrative matter in question."
"The complainant (Oruči) carried out construction work on the building during the period of validity of the Law on Spatial Planning and Construction of Buildings, which means that the legal provisions on legalization, which apply to buildings whose construction has been completed, i.e. to constructed buildings, do not apply to the building in question," states the Ministry's decision in which the appeal against the demolition decision was received.
By the time this issue was published, attorney Hodžić had not responded to a journalist's inquiry about Oručija's current and previous projects, as well as how, among other things, he was able to begin and develop work on the plot where a building he financed was demolished just a few years ago...
The inspection found no one.
Environmental inspector Vesna Vučinić She told the editorial staff that the Environmental Inspection conducted an inspection on two state-owned plots on March 12 and April 3 of this year, at the initiative of the Public Company for the Management of the Coastal Zone and the Municipal Police and Inspection of the Municipality of Bar.
"The aforementioned initiative referred to the clearing and leveling of terrain carried out on state cadastral plots, which resulted in the disruption of the ambient space, devastation and endangerment of the environment, without the necessary permits and approvals," she told "Vijesti".
At the time of the inspection, he claims, there were no people or work being done on the plots.
"Two large multi-storey buildings were built on the plots, in which no people were found. A photo record of the location was made. The aforementioned cadastral plots are not in a protected area. The Environmental Inspection, in accordance with its jurisdiction, has submitted a notification to the Environmental Protection Agency for the possible initiation of a procedure to determine environmental damage or an imminent threat of environmental damage," Vučinić told the newspaper.
Citizens have been contacting authorities for a long time
Three residents of Utjeha-Kunja who were interviewed by "Vijesti" said that they had contacted the authorities several times regarding various problems since the beginning of construction three years ago.
As they stated, they knew that a facility by the same "investors" had been demolished at that location in 2023, so they were concerned when construction began on a new one, and then another, and when the forest was stripped bare and cascades were built for, they claim, new facilities, or swimming pools - right by the sea.
They informed "Morsko dobro", headed by Mladen Mikijelj, which does not have the authority to conduct inspection supervision or to conduct administrative or misdemeanor proceedings, but is obliged to immediately report all irregularities observed in the coastal zone to the competent inspection authorities, which was done in this case.
Locals say they contacted the municipal police and the Bar Municipality Inspectorate, because last year they found a ramp blocking the access to the state road, which leads to the usurped state plot, at the approach to the construction site. Through their efforts, they say, they managed to have the ramp removed.
The role of a friend - Muja Redže
Several residents of Utjeha point out that they are unfamiliar with Oručić's name and that they have only heard one - Mujo Redža, who, as they claim, was mentioned as the main person responsible for the construction and the project by everyone they had communicated with on the matter - the contractor, the excavator, the neighbor who brought water for the works...
In an interview with the journalist, they emphasized that they never saw the person in charge at the construction site or near it, but instead spoke to workers whom they claim to have known for years. They allegedly told them that Redža was the one paying them.
"Vijesti" was unable to contact Redžo or find his publicly available phone number.
Redža is a multiple-convicted businessman from Ulcinj, whose illegal buildings were also demolished. He was sentenced to prison in 2016 for fraud, and in 2011 he surrendered to the police after three months on the run after an arsenal of weapons was found in his warehouse...
The Bar Public Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment against his daughter Almedina on suspicion that she built and sold ten residential units in a residential building in Bar, for which she failed to report legally acquired income and pay taxes, as well as contributions on earned income, in the total amount of 211.314,45 euros, from May 2022 to April 2023.
Her testimony at the time suggests that she and her father were friends with Naim Oruci. The media reported at the time that she told the prosecutor that she was “practically just an intermediary between Oruci and the apartment buyers, and she immediately forwarded all the money she received from the buyers to him, performing this work without any compensation due to her father’s friendly relations with Oruci.”
According to data from the "eKadastar" portal, Elemdina Redža submitted a request for the implementation of a study for plot 4170/1 (state-owned, where the illegal Oručija facilities are located) back in 2023.
An investigation by the police and the Bar State Prosecutor's Office showed that the apartments, for which she was suspected of fraud, were located on the plot in the Kunje settlement and that she participated in the sale of apartments that were illegally built on state property.
"Vijesti" was unable to contact Almedin Redža yesterday via the telephone number available in the public directories of operators operating in Montenegro.
The Police Directorate did not respond to the editorial team's questions about Redžo's possible involvement in this illegal business.
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