A criminal complaint in the Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT), letters to international organizations, embassies and the formation of an eco-patrol in the event that a concessionaire with machinery enters their area are just some of the steps taken by the residents of Kosijer, Bokovo, Đinovići and the surrounding Cetinje villages in to the fight against the construction of a quarry at the site of Milosev Krs.
Locals have been contesting the construction of a quarry whose surface mine would cover 42 square meters for some time, especially due to the danger of dust, exhaust gases, heavy machinery, noise and the destruction of the local road.
In February of last year, the government at the proposal of the Ministry of Capital Investments (MKI) passed a concession act for detailed geological research and exploitation of mineral raw materials for the Milosev karst site, after which a tender was announced and a concession contract was signed in August 2022 with the Podgorica company "Inženjering put".
Representatives of the local communities of Bokovo, Đinovići and Kosijeri have recently submitted a criminal complaint to the SDT against the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Government, and the reason for this, as they told "Vijesta", is the violation of the Constitution, international conventions and a number of laws when choosing a location and granting concessions.
They also claim that the first public hearing on the Elaboration of the Environmental Impact Assessment of that project was non-transparent, and that the representative of the concessionaire did not appear at the second.
The editors also asked the MKI about the allegations from that application, from which they clarified that all steps were taken in accordance with the law and the opinions they received.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is responsible for discussions on the report, told "Vijesti" that the third hearing is scheduled for October 30 and that they are not legally allowed to comment on the situation surrounding the quarry.
During that period, a session of the Assembly of the capital was scheduled for the same reason, and the Municipality said that they firmly stand by the citizens and that they have already submitted an initiative to the MKI with a request to terminate the concession contract.
Residents' anxiety
A resident of Bokovo told "Vijesta" that they are ready for everything civil disobedience entails Nikola Borozan. He emphasized that, among other things, they appealed to the Ombudsperson with a complaint, sent an initiative to the Capital to terminate the contract, all in order to reject the quarry at the institutional level, legally and procedurally.
"If that doesn't work, then civil disobedience comes into play in various forms. We will by no means allow the concessionaire to use our country road," said Borozan and pointed out that they have the constitutional right to protest.
A resident of the nearby village of Đinovići Nikola Adzic stated that they hope that everything will be resolved as soon as possible, in order to return to normal lives as soon as possible. He explained that the situation has created an immeasurable sense of unease for them because they are writing comments on the report, learning about biodiversity and communicating with scientists and activists, but also that they are eagerly waiting for the third public hearing.
"I mention the third one, because the first one was non-transparent, and the second one was postponed due to the non-arrival of the concessionaire's representative", he said and added that by implementing the project, Montenegro would create another ecological black spot and be directly responsible for the devastation of the wider area.
Another resident of Đinović agrees with this Nikola Latkovic, who told the newsroom that their hearth is not for sale and that they want to live in their homeland as they inherited it, that is, they want to preserve it.
The influence of quarries on the health of citizens in the next 30 years will be immeasurable, through the negative impact of noise, heavy machinery and blasting, PM dust particles, crushers and asphalt base exhaust gases, he pointed out. Marko Radovic from the village of Kosijeri. He also referred to the impact of waste water on the Studenac living water basin, from the catchment of which, as he said, Kosijeri would be supplied according to the village water supply construction project from 2000.
Allowed, but not intended
The Ministry of Interior explained that in the Spatial-Urban Plan (PUP) of Cetinje, this location is not foreseen for concession and stone exploitation, but the possibility is left that in areas that are not in conflict with other uses, with the concession deed, an adequate assessment of the impact on the environment , in accordance with the law, can realize concessions - which is a condition for issuing urban-technical conditions.
They explained that this was stated in the answer that the Secretariat for Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection of the Capital submitted for the preparation of the concession act. They added that before including the Milos Karst in the annual plan for granting concessions, they sought the opinion of all relevant institutions, i.e. administrations for cadastre and state property, water, forests, protection of cultural assets and others.
Regarding the allegations in the criminal complaint that the opinion of the EPA was not requested before the concession act and why it was not done, the MKI states that the study on environmental impact assessment cannot be done without a previously approved Main Mining Project for exploration and exploitation.
"According to the law and the concession agreement, mining documentation is drawn up after the concession agreement is signed and not before that, and before the start of exploitation, i.e. obtaining approval for the same", states in the answer of the MKI and points out that the details are clarified in Article 5 of the concession agreement.
The capital provides legal assistance to local residents
The Environmental Protection Agency told "Vijesta" that the project is in the procedure and evaluation phase of the study, and that the law prevents them from giving answers. They briefly pointed out that the public forum for the project is scheduled for October 30 in the building of the Municipality of Cetinje.
The capital city said that during the public debate on the impact of the quarry, they are providing all the necessary legal assistance to the locals. They did not reveal the next steps in the fight for the locals, but they clarified that due to the citizen's initiative to terminate the concession contract for Milosev Krs, they scheduled a session of the Municipal Assembly for October 27 and that they will have conclusions on the matter.
As they said, they fully support the locals, and their views are firmly shared by the first man of the Municipality, Nikola Đurašković. They emphasized that they have already submitted the initiative to the MKI with a request to terminate the concession contract and that they have also addressed the Environmental Protection Agency, to consider not implementing the project and postponing the Elaborate until the relevant ministry's statement.
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