The mayors of the municipalities of Šavnik, Žabljak, Mojkovac and Kolašin sent a letter to Prime Minister Milojko Spajić and requested a meeting regarding the completion of work on the Semolj tunnel.
The tunnel is part of the regional road R 21 Mioska - Šavnik and only 1750 meters of the 460 meter length was broken 50 years ago, after which the work stopped.
At a joint meeting on February 21, the representatives of these four municipalities decided to open this issue again because the tunnel breakthrough would make life easier for the local population, enable a closer connection with the highway Bar - Boljare, unhindered transport of goods and passengers throughout the year and better valorization of economic potential of this region.
The initiative to solve this issue was initiated by the Municipality of Šavnik, which is managed by Mayor Jugoslav Jakić.
In the letter to Spajić, which "Vijesti" had access to, it is stated that the mayors Jakić, Radoš Žugić, Vesko Delić and Petko Bakić met on February 21 and that one of the conclusions is to give full support to the realization of this project from is emphasized, of historical importance for those municipalities.
"Regional road R 21 Mioska - Šavnik was built in 1975 by the JNA and was conceived as a connection of two road directions from the north of Montenegro towards the coast, without the Semolj tunnel, the length of the road is 52 kilometers, and if the road were fully functional, would be the closest link between the municipalities of the North-West and North-East regions. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to continue the work on the construction of the tunnel, which was started 50 years ago. Of the planned length of 1750 meters, a total of 460 meters were drilled on both sides, and that's where it stopped. Of course, this would also include the repairs of old works that have begun to age, as well as those that are yet to come, that is, the preparation of the necessary project documentation, as the first step in the realization of this project," the letter states.
After the opening of the regional road Risan - Žabljak and the highway Bar - Boljare, a large part of the municipality of Šavnik, as well as part of the municipality of Kolašin, which have significant natural resources, remained without adequate traffic connections with neighboring municipalities, because almost all transit is directed to these travel directions, according to the Initiative
It was established that the very important role of this road is also that it is a connection with the highway.
"Although traffic communication has been significantly improved by the construction of the Risan-Žabljak road, for the municipalities of Šavnik and Žabljak, the R 21 road must be fully equipped with the construction of the Semolj tunnel, as a prerequisite for increasing the efficiency of the road direction Mioska - Žabljak via Boan, which aims to improve the connection the municipalities of Šavnik and Žabljak, with the municipalities of Kolašin and Mojkovac and further Podgorica and thus contribute to a more dynamic development of these municipalities and additionally improve the spatial capacities of the municipalities. This would consequently contribute to the realization of a series of small projects (local roads, livestock farms, small-scale tourist facilities, conversion of rural school facilities into multifunctional facilities for the stay of tourists, construction of ponds, etc.), which would create a diverse basis for increasing the economic standard. of the local population of these municipalities," the letter states.
Breaking the tunnel through the Semolj pass, as assessed, would enable the smooth transport of people and goods throughout the year and open up a number of opportunities for better economic valorization of the numerous natural resources available in the areas of these municipalities.
"Both in terms of intensive livestock production and placement of food on the tourist market during the summer season, as well as in terms of enabling greater tourist attendance, and especially in the reduced outflow of the population, given the very poor demographic picture in these municipalities, which is also confirmed by the unofficial results of the census last year ”, was assessed in the letter.
Due to all of the above, the mayors propose organizing a joint meeting with Spajić in order to review the possibility of implementing the adopted conclusions and finding solutions for their implementation.
"Please inform us about the date and place of the meeting, according to your regular duties," the letter concluded.
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