From the beginning of the year to the end of August, people with disabilities made 149 thousand trips, on the basis of which they collected fees worth 8,6 million euros from social work centers, according to data from the Ministry of Social Welfare's summary of material benefits.
The total number of people with disabilities who used their right to travel payments for these eight months is 29.408.
In Montenegro, since 2008, there has been a special law called the Law on Travel Benefits for Persons with Disabilities, according to which these persons are entitled to reimbursement of expenses for 12 trips per year in bus and rail transport on the territory of Montenegro, but also if they travel by their own car. They are also entitled to a companion, who also receives this compensation. If they travel by themselves or by a companion's car, they do not need any proof that they traveled, but only a statement and a certificate from the Center for Social Work in the city they traveled to, and they receive money in the amount of the bus ticket between the places they showed that they traveled.
However, ten years ago, these trips, for which they received compensation, were about five thousand for the whole year, and now there are 30 times more in just eight months. Back then, for the whole year, this compensation amounted to less than 200 thousand euros. Now, the trips for which they received compensation amounted to over 50 million kilometers.
Users from Rožaje had 27 thousand trips
The law does not prescribe any form of control, and when this was discovered, there was a drastic increase in the number of these trips. In recent years, as Vijesti has written about several times, there has been a drastic increase in the number of people with disability certificates, especially in cities in the north.
Users from Rožaje traveled the most, 27.082 times, for which they were paid compensation in the amount of 1,84 million euros. Users from Podgorica had 16 thousand trips for which they received 793 thousand euros, followed by Berane with 15.758 trips and 888 thousand euros, Bijelo Polje with 15.585 trips and received 872 thousand euros, users from Nikšić with 14.989 trips for which they received 681 thousand.
Although Rožaje and Kotor have almost the same number of inhabitants, users from this town in Boka Bay had 1.441 trips for which they received compensation of 77 thousand euros, which is only four percent of the money received by the people of Rožaje. According to data from "Vijesti", most users from the north travel to Herceg Novi, because it is the greatest distance and the highest amount of compensation. Since the beginning of the year, there have been over 80 thousand such trips.
Pointing out in vain, the authorities are silent
An interlocutor from the Ministry of Social Welfare, who previously and now provided "Vijesti" with more data indicating massive abuses in the social and disability protection system, amounting to tens of millions of euros, said that nothing had happened despite the publication of several articles on this topic.
"Now, in addition to residents of Rožaje, there is also an evident increase in users from Berane, Bijelo Polje, Nikšić, who massively use this right... Some also travel 'everyday' from their cities to Herceg Novi, and then back," said the interlocutor.
400 people come for confirmation every day
The shortest distance between Rožaje and Herceg Novi is 266 kilometers one way and takes at least four and a half hours. According to data from the Center for Social Work, most users report traveling to Herceg Novi and returning the same day, for 12 consecutive days, in order to immediately use all the trips they are entitled to and withdraw over a thousand euros for themselves and a companion.
"In addition to the fact that some officially travel for nine hours a day, they spend a couple of hours in line in front of the social work centers on the coast to get a travel certificate. Specifically, in front of the Herceg Novi Social Work Center, there is an average wait of two hours, because over 200 certificates are issued daily, or 400 people (users and companions) wait in front of the Center every day for a certificate. The current number of certificates issued since the beginning of the year in the Herceg Novi Center alone is close to 40.000. Which means that the number of people who have passed through the Center is around 80 thousand," said the interlocutor of "Vijesti".
Despite several texts on these abuses, the Parliament adopted only an amendment to the law to ensure that the inspector for social and child protection carries out inspection supervision over the implementation of this law. Chief Inspector Alexander Zuber Last week, he confirmed suspicions of a large number of abuses, but said that the inspection is powerless and that the law needs to be amended, at least by limiting the number of monthly trips.
An interlocutor of "Vijesti" from the Ministry states that the law is bad and that it is a source of abuse, but that there are still possibilities for control if the authorities want to introduce order and protect the state budget.
"Unfortunately, the competent Ministry does not want to eliminate these irregularities. A new regulation on travel privileges has just been created in which absolutely nothing has changed, although they are well informed about everything. This means that they are not interested or that this situation suits them, thereby mocking real people with disabilities who cannot travel, and the entire Montenegrin public," the interlocutor of "Vijesti" stated.
They live in Igalo, so they "travel" home every day.
He states that he has discovered several illogicalities, which have been reported to the Ministry, but that no one is doing anything to prevent them, and one of them is that some of the beneficiaries who are entitled to accommodation at the Igalo Institute at state expense are simultaneously reporting their trips on a daily basis.
"A large number of users are accommodated at the Igalo Institute - so they do not travel and should not be able to get a confirmation that they have traveled, which is very easy to verify in the patient lists. However, some go to the Center for Social Work every day to get a confirmation that they arrived from Rožaje that very day, and so on, for 12 days in a row. The Institute also complained that patients from the north are running home en masse after 12 days, even though they have appointments for about 20 days. This proves that some use the free stay at the Institute to get confirmations about daily travel, and not for recovery. In this way, they directly prevent real patients from coming for rehabilitation during that period," said the interlocutor of "Vijesti".
He is looking for a companion because he can't be alone, so he becomes a companion for another person.
The interlocutor of "Vijesti" points out that the data shows that there are abuses in the selection of companions for people with disabilities.
"A person with a disability should state that they want to travel but that they cannot take care of themselves independently during the trip and that they need a companion. That is all well and good. However, very often the person who stated that they need a companion often chooses a person with a disability as their companion, who accompanies them on 12 trips, and then they switch. In other words, the person who stated that they cannot travel independently now becomes the companion of their previous companion and helps them on the trip. Both are entitled to reimbursement of expenses and receive it. Absurd, isn't it?" said the source of "Vijesti".
He also points out that the law stipulates that the person traveling and the companion must be from the same city, but that this is not controlled either, so there are "professional" companions.
From Nikšić to Novi, via Podgorica and Budva
Users from the central part of Montenegro do not have the space for long-distance direct trips, but they have found a way to travel to neighboring cities via five other cities.
"A large number of users, instead of the price of the direct bus line, state that they traveled around and thus receive even higher payments. Specifically, users from Nikšić increasingly state that instead of the direct line NK - Herceg Novi, they traveled from Nikšić via Podgorica, Budva, Tivat and Kotor to Herceg Novi. And they get away with it, they get a larger amount of money. Both the competent inspection and the Ministry do not see these problems and do not dispute such machinations, and they do not believe that these things should be changed," said the interlocutor of "Vijesti".
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