At the roundabout near the new bridge at Port Milena, in front of a large number of citizens, a protest was held today by the Association of Beach Tenants, the Association of Restaurants on Ada Bojana, the Ada Bojana Association, and representatives of the local community, at which they expressed their unified views that Velika Plaza and Ulcinj are not for sale, that the tender of the Public Company for Coastal Zone Management (PK) should be canceled and the lease agreements from 2019 should be annexed.
Representative of the Association of Beach Tenants and President of the MZ Štoj, Albert Kastrati, said that the foreign company that participated in the tender and won the competition for nine beaches was favored because the tender procedure was delayed so that it could be registered in Montenegro and apply.
"The previous tenants have been discriminated against in the worst possible way. Our investments over all these years have not been recognized, as we have created the best tourist product that our municipality can currently offer from a wasteland and untidy space. The non-transparent procedure for collecting bids and the extension of the deadline for submitting documents by seven days favored the foreign bidder, and not us as old and responsible tenants. At the last moment, on the day of the bid opening, we learned that it was a foreign bidder who had applied for as many as 19 bathing areas and managed to win nine as the best bidder," said Kastrati.
He assessed that it was clear that this was a case of the centralist role and arbitrariness of the JP.
"In the previous period and last year, we had several meetings with representatives of the Coastal Zone and relevant ministries at the Chamber of Commerce and we reached the conclusion that a working group should be formed that, together with a representative from the Economy, would make quality preparations for a transparent and in the interest of all tender procedures. That did not happen. No one contacted us as businessmen and the Chamber of Commerce and took us into account. The result of that is known to everyone," said Kastrati.
He stated that Ulcinj is raising its voice against centralization.
"Two days ago, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić presented a megalomaniacal project that is to be built on Velika Plaza and leased for 99 years. That is a time period of four generations. From this place, we are saying not only to him, but also to all future prime ministers and ministers that we are not against the development of our community, but not at any cost. We advocate for respecting environmental standards and sustainable development in which we would actively participate together with the professional public in finding the best solution that would be acceptable to everyone," said Kastrati.
"Vijesti" reported yesterday that the founder of the company "Emaar Properties" and president of the company "Eagle Hills Properties", Mohamed Alabar from the United Arab Emirates, planned to lease the entire Velika Plaža for 99 years from Port Milena to Bojana.
This was confirmed to "Vijesti" by several participants in the meeting with Spajić, who neither confirmed nor denied it at a press conference yesterday after the Government session.
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In the recently concluded tender, JP, Alabar's company "Eagle Hills Properties", won the bid for nine mostly connected bathing areas on Velika Plaza in Ulcinj.
The Prime Minister conveyed Alabar's message to the people of Ulcinj, that this world-famous investor is ready to give up on those beaches or sublease them to them, where the tenants are Montenegrin citizens.
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Kastrati stated that projects that are adopted in a non-transparent manner and attempts to bring in foreign investors through the back door are unacceptable to them.
"As the president of the MZ Štoj, I would state that in the hinterland of Velika Plaza there are five to eight thousand buildings for various purposes - from residential houses, cottages, apartments to small hotels, motels and other buildings whose main purpose is housing and renting out accommodation. Let's ask ourselves, if this megalomaniacal project is realized and the entire area of Velika Plaza is occupied, what will happen to all those buildings and the local population," asked Kastrati.
He recalled that their demands were clear from the beginning - to cancel the non-transparent and discriminatory tender, to annex the contracts as last year, to vote on amendments to the law on maritime domain in the Parliament of Montenegro, and to finally have the Constitutional Court pronounce on their initiative.
All of these demands were contained in a petition that attendees could sign during and after the protest.
Representative of the Ada Bojana Association, Dijana Pelinković, said that the gathering was organized to raise its voice, not against progress and not against development, but against humiliation, against ignoring, against selling what is not for sale...
"Ulcinj is more than a city. Ulcinj is history, culture, soul, a city that has survived empires, winds and storms, but has never lost what makes it special, its spirit of freedom. And Velika Plaza is not a desert for someone to do Dubai. Velika Plaza is a wonder of nature, twenty kilometers of untouched coastline... It is our oasis, our heritage. But Spajić does not know this, because he has never bathed on Velika Plaza, he has never stepped barefoot on its sand, he has never listened to its waves, that is why he can offer it as if he were selling a piece of concrete, and behind our backs," she said.
DUA President and MP Mehmet Zenka said that he was attending the rally as an ordinary citizen and that he had come to support the tenants who had invested more than 50 million euros in the beaches and facilities.
"Those beaches are the brand of the city, the best part of the offer and because of them Ulcinj today has 300 thousand beds in accommodation capacities. But what happened - a sudden offer came from an investor who wants to lease 20 million square meters. They tell us a story as if we were from some third world. So they want to buy land for a hundred years and plan the future for at least 4 or 5 more generations. And they want to build Porto Montenegro, Luštica By, Porto Novi, Belgrade on the Water, Durres... There will be no room for that," said Zenka.
The Mayor of Ulcinj, Genci Nimanbegu, said that for the request to cancel the tender, for the annex to the contract and for the amendment of the law on the subject of property, Ulcinj also has the support of the Mayors of the Municipalities of Herceg Novi, Kotor, Tivat, Budva and Bar.
"We are united here on the coast. This law must be changed. The government must also return the property to the municipalities. Then we will dispose of the property because we know best how to develop. Therefore, I am very proud today, but I want to seize the opportunity. I want to send a message to everyone. We must all be more responsible towards Ulcinj, towards our common place, towards work...", said Nimanbegu.
He said that children should not be left with a burden that they will not be able to bear.
"We must not leave it to our children to be blamed and ask us where we were when it was supposed to change. I think today is that day, yesterday was that day and we will continue the fight until we are equal, not only as a municipality, but as citizens and as people. We are united here. We are of all nations, all religions, all colors and all professions here. Ulcinj simply says no to these intentions," said Nimanbegu.
The Mayor of Bar, Dušan Raičević, also addressed the audience. He said that he had come to support the demands of the people of Ulcinj.
"Today it's Ulcinj, tomorrow Bar, on Monday the entire coast. We must not allow this," said Raičević.
Representatives of the Valentina Bogogojević restaurant, Halil Truma, Ivo Knežević, and NGO activist Dželal Hodžić also spoke at the gathering.
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