The Minister of Maritime Affairs, Filip Radulović, said that he will seek responsibility if the Occupational Safety and Health Inspection confirms that the health of workers of Port Bar is at risk due to elevated levels of metals in their blood, and that all information until then is only speculation.
He said this in the Assembly, answering a question from Social Democrat MP Branislav Nenezić.
Nenezić presented the information that 30 workers of Luka Bar had a high concentration of lead and arsenic in their blood, and according to the findings in his possession, one of them had a lead level of 80,4, while those levels must be below 28. That is why he asked if those who work there have high levels of the substance in their blood, have they been warned, are the citizens also infected...
"As soon as we receive the documentation from the Occupational Safety and Health Inspection, we will make a decision. Until then, it is speculation and I will not talk about it. If something happened that should not have happened or if the limits are outside the permissible limits, we will demand responsibility," he said. Radulović.
Nenezić also asked whether the opening of a lithium mine in the Jadar river valley in Serbia means that part of the dangerous raw materials will go through the Port of Bar, because it is the closest transport hub.
"Almost everything is transshipped in the Port of Bar, no work is refused, we will soon have sulfuric acid if Rio Tinto is built. Is it safe to live in Bar? There was the intention and interest of the Port of Bar for this job. Serbia on July 19 signed a memorandum on critical raw materials, which envisages the entire production chain from the "Rio Tinta" mine in the Jadar river valley to the production of lithium batteries", emphasized Nenezić.
Radulović also stated that this information is at the level of speculation, and that the Port of Bar and the Ministry have not yet received any inquiries about the transportation of lithium.
The LNG terminal is still just an idea
The Minister of Mining, Oil and Gas, Admir Šahmanović, emphasized that the project for the construction of the LNG terminal in Bar is still at the level of an idea, and that the state is not working on the documentation of the already interested companies.
He also pointed out that he does not want to talk about potential investors, but about the project itself.
"I assure you responsibly that if there is any risk regarding the environment and the health of the citizens of Bar, I will be the first to be against it. The project is still at the level of an idea, and the company you mentioned, which was also in Bar and met with the managers, took the responsibility ", he stated and added that there are more than 50 such terminals in Europe, and there have never been any explosions or similar incidents.
Šahmanović emphasized that the obligation to prepare documentation was taken over by the investor, but that in the previous period there was no will for further work on the project in the Municipality of Bar, so they are waiting to see what will happen next.
He was asked about this by Nenezić, who asked when the memorandum that Šahmanović signed with the United States of America a few days ago will be available to the public. He also asked whether the conclusion from the Tourism Committee was adopted in April, i.e. whether it was justified to introduce the LNG terminal project into the Spatial Plan of the State, without a previously prepared strategy on energy sources, an analysis of endangering citizens, risks...
"For the last year and a half, the construction of an LNG terminal and a thermal power plant has been a current topic in Bar. We also had a memorandum between the former Government Dritan Abazović and the company "Wetington energy innovation" and "Enerflex energy system", which has been in force since May last year, and we still don't know the provisions of the memorandum," he said and asked whether economic analyzes or other documentation had been done, because that is a prerequisite for including the project in the Spatial Plan, and that everything outside of those measures is against the law.
He claims that on these issues there were other visits by ministers and representatives of the EU and other companies, about which nothing is known.
Šahmanović stated that the Government accepted the memorandum with the USA in mid-October, which was announced on the website, while the details will be published by the Ministry of Economic Development after the implementation of the procedures. He emphasized that the memorandum is not related to individual projects but to traffic, bilateral cooperation, cyber security, environmental protection, trade, infrastructure, investments, technology...
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