Popović is building a beach without planning documentation

The devastation of the sea and coast in Baošići, carried out by the company "Carine" of Podgorica businessman Čed Popović under the guise of a long-term contract with Morski dobro for the construction of an "investment beach" on cadastral plots 771, 772, 773/1 and 774 KO Baošići, is being carried out without any basis in the valid planning documentation for that part of the coast and waters in Boka Kotorska.

This follows from what is written in the textual and graphic parts of the Special Purpose Spatial Plan for the Coastal Area of ​​Montenegro (SPPPNOP), or the State Location Study (SDS) Sector 5 (Kumbor-Đenovići-Baošići). In these documents, as well as in the current Atlas of Beaches of Montenegro prepared by the JP Morsko dobro from Budva, there is no basis whatsoever for the current cadastral plots 771, 772, 773/1 and 774 KO Baošići, which represented a narrow natural coastal strip under the local road through Baošići, or the former old (now completely buried) Baošići quay with a mandrače, to be transformed into a huge concrete and gravel surface of as much as 14.900 square meters, which the company "Carine" has been building on these plots and the sea in front of them for almost two months, calling it the construction of a beach for its new, mammoth hotel that is being built in the hinterland of these plots.

The Navigation Safety Inspection of the Kotor Port Authority officially stated a few days ago that the coastline in Baošići has been altered to the extent that all previously valid nautical charts for that part of the Boka Bay have become outdated, and that the coastal maritime light and terrestrial mark that were located on top of the old Baošići pier and the mandrača, which have since been filled in, have lost their function for practical terrestrial navigation. The Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Montenegro has previously banned the company "Carine" from further carrying out works on the Baošići coast on several occasions due to the devastation of cultural heritage and ordered the return of the coast to its original state. Despite this, none of the authorities in the country have so far made an effort to implement this and prevent the enormous devastation of that part of the Boka Bay coast that is located in the protective, so-called buffer zone of the world natural and cultural heritage area of ​​the Bay of Kotor, which is under the patronage of UNESCO. Only the president of the National Commission for UNESCO, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, ordered the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage to file criminal charges for the works in Baošići, and then, as he said, the conclusion on investment beaches, which enabled investment on the coast in Baošići, will be annulled at one of the government sessions.

The criminal complaint will be filed instead of the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage by the Protector of Property and Legal Interests of Montenegro, Bojana Ćirović, and the complaint will be filed "against the builder without a permit and all officials in the system who signed the consents." The Herceg Novi police have also been involved in collecting documentation that will be submitted to the competent prosecutor.

The construction permit for the construction of an "investment beach" with a total area of ​​12.476 square meters was issued to "Carin" last year by the Secretariat for Urban Planning and Construction Inspection of the Municipality of Herceg Novi. This permit was not published on the website of the Herceg Novi administration, as is the case with most other construction permits issued by the Municipality of Herceg Novi last year. So "Vijesti" requested it from the Municipality (and is still waiting for it) under the Law on Free Access to Information.

Likewise, the website of the Public Company Morsko dobro does not contain a long-term contract on the construction of an "investment beach" in Baošići with the company "Carine", which ceded that part of the coast and the aquatorium to that company for as long as 30 years. According to available data, that contract was signed in the summer of 2023, and was previously approved by the Government of the then Prime Minister Dritan Abazović (URA).

The construction of the “investment beach” in Baošići, i.e. the devastation of the coast and the filling of the sea to a depth of as much as nine meters, which has never been recorded in Boka Bay, as stated by the Navigation Safety Inspection, was supported by the Mayor of Herceg Novi Stevan Katić (Democrats), and indirectly by the Minister of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property Slaven Radunović (New Serbian Democracy - NSD). Radunović recently said at a session of the National Commission for UNESCO that he had asked the competent inspection to check the construction permit and that it had been “determined that it was correct.” He and Katić then opposed the request of the President of the Commission, Prime Minister Spajić, to annul the disputed construction permit issued to “Customs”, emphasizing that it was “in the public interest” to build a new beach for which, according to Radunović, there is a relevant planning basis, and warned that in the event of the cancellation of the permit, the investor could sue and seek large damages from the municipality and the state.

However, the valid spatial planning documentation relating to this area, as well as the valid Atlas of the Morksi Dobr Beaches, do not provide a legal basis for planning and carrying out such a drastic intervention in the area, such as converting what until recently was only 1.500 square meters of small pebble beaches and old piers in Baošići, into a concrete-gravel area of ​​as much as 14.500 square meters, to the detriment of the sea.

On the contrary - the PPPNOP clearly indicates that the practice of the "Carine" company in Baošići, which was "approved" by the municipality and the state, is completely unacceptable.

"Seashores are treated as natural heritage, and therefore the use of concrete in the formation of beaches is excluded, and concrete structures are used exclusively in the construction of ports, marinas, piers or some other types of facilities in the sea. Therefore, this Plan proposes to prohibit the concreting of coasts and natural beaches in Montenegro," the PPPNOP states, noting that in the municipality of Herceg Novi "the phenomenon of shifting the coastline towards the sea is very present", with the construction of numerous concrete plateaus that enter the sea.

"The construction of concrete plateaus in Montenegro is not recommended by the plan, because they cannot fit into the natural environment of the coasts and prevent the preservation of biodiversity in the coastal zone. In addition, they are incompatible with the idea of ​​an ecological state and with the desire to develop exclusive tourism in Montenegro. Seashores and beaches are treated as national natural heritage, so any human intervention in the coastal area is required to be in accordance with nature protection measures and natural characteristics of the coast," it is written, among other things, in the PPPNOP, which is the basic planning document that should be applied by the JP Morsko dobro in its work.

The state-owned company, headed by director Mladen Mikijelj (NSD), did not respond to questions from "Vijesti" to state where exactly in the PPPNOP and the current DSL Sector 5 they find the basis to start filling 14.500 square meters of sea in Bašići in partnership with "Carine" under the pretext of building an "investment beach". They did not answer what exactly DSL Sector 5 envisages for urban plots UP 52 and UP 53, which "Carine" has since covered up and in front of which the sea is now being filled, nor did they explain how they could have concluded a contract with the Podgorica company on the construction of a beach for a period of 30 years, which far exceeds the term of the current planning documentation, and in which there is no basis for the construction of such a facility.

According to the current Atlas of Montenegrin Beaches, two smaller pebble public beaches can be developed on plots 770, 771 and 772 of the Baošići administrative district, with a total length of 95,7 meters and a total area of ​​only 1.000 square meters. Cadastral plots 773/1 and 774, which "Carine" also buried and incorporated into its future "investment beach", are not included in the Atlas at all as beach and bathing areas because they are, in nature, the old Baošić stone pier and mandrać.

This very mule and mandrač are listed in the PPPNOP under number 168 in the list of "objects with potential cultural value" on the coastal territory of the Herceg Novi municipality.

The PPPNOP also states that "the development and expansion of existing and possible construction of new bathing areas would be carried out by removing contents and facilities that are not necessary and can be organized in other areas, filling with indigenous sand or gravel, constructing engineering structures for beach protection (e.g. underwater thresholds, jetties), constructing or installing pontoons and piers (especially in Boka Bay), and carefully modeling the existing rocky or stony area and adapting them for bathers."

"Such works are not planned for protected objects, and must be checked based on an assessment of the impact of individual works on sea currents and on ambient values. If any of the beaches are located in a protected area, operations, activities and businesses must be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Nature Protection Act in order not to disrupt the natural balance and authentic appearance," the document states, among other things.

Despite this, on December 31st of last year, the Nature Protection Agency of Montenegro issued a Decision determining that for the implementation of the project to build an artificial beach consisting of 14.500 square meters of concrete and gravel poured into the sea in Baošići, it is not necessary to conduct a study on the assessment of the impact of this project on the environment.

In DSL Sector 5, which mainly refers to the area of ​​the former military barracks in Kumbor, where the Portonovi resort has since been built, but which also "covers" the narrow coastal strip of Đenovići and Baošići, where there are plots that have since been filled in by the "Carine" company, it is explicitly stated that "any unplanned interventions on the beaches are prohibited (bringing and depositing construction and other materials, removing gravel and stones from the beaches, etc.)"

The Ministry does not answer how the project implementation was "approved"

The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property (MDUP) also did not respond to a set of questions from "Vijesti" regarding how Morsko dobro, the Municipality of Herceg Novi and MDUP, each from their own perspective, "approved" the implementation of such a controversial project on the coast of Boka.

We asked the department headed by Minister Slaven Radunović to specifically state where in the PPPNOP and DSL Sector 5 there is a legal basis for issuing urban planning and technical conditions and a building permit for the implementation of the project of an "investment beach" of 14.500 square meters in Baošići, and why the MDUP claims that the building permit issued by the Municipality of Herceg Novi is allegedly correct and legal even though it was issued contrary to the position of the Directorate for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and contrary to the conservation conditions of that Directorate that it previously issued for the purposes of establishing investment beaches and which strictly state that "there will be no filling of the coast".

Does the MDUP support the announcement by Prime Minister Milojko Spajić that the Government will cancel its conclusion on investment bathing areas, which, in addition to the above, also enabled such savage devastation of the seashore in Baošići by the company "Carine", based on the acts and consents issued to it for such conduct by the JP Morsko dobro and indirectly, the MDUP under whose jurisdiction the work of the JP Morsko dobro falls? Will Minister Slaven Radunović resign due to this unprecedented scandal that further threatens the preservation of the status of Boka Kotorska on the list of world natural and cultural heritage under the patronage of UNESCO, and if not, why? - these are questions to which "Vijesti" also did not receive concrete answers from Radunović's department.

Instead, the MDUP tried to teach journalists a lesson on how to ask questions of that body:

"Dear Sir, in order to provide a precise and fact-based answer, we would like to point out that the questions asked are not formulated in accordance with professional journalistic standards, given that they also contain assumptions and conclusions.

"The ministry, as we believe you know from experience, is ready to consider and respond to questions that are formulated clearly, neutrally and unambiguously, without tendentious interpretations. In this regard, we ask that you reformulate the questions in a way that allows us to provide a professional response," Radunović's office said.