Podgorica's URA: While the government is deceiving citizens, Velje Brdo must wait for analyses for another 14 months

Today, the official confirmation from the director of Vodovod Podgorica has arrived that the results of key hydrological research for the Velje Brdo area will only be known in 14 months. This confirms what we have been warning about from the very beginning – that at this moment, no one can say with certainty whether and to what extent the Velje Brdo project will be able to be implemented, announced the Podgorica branch of the Civic Movement (GP) URA.

Podgorica's ERO states that this raises legitimate questions: why was the project presented to the public almost as a complete whole and how is it possible for Minister Radunović to announce tenders for the main project before the expert analyses on which its sustainability directly depends have been conducted.

"If research shows that construction on Velje Brdo could endanger Podgorica's water supply, we will lose at least another year without a concrete solution for the housing needs of citizens. Instead of serious planning based on facts, citizens have been offered big promises without the necessary expert confirmation. Citizens have been deceived by claims that they will move into apartments this year," they stressed.

They state that from the beginning, GP URA advocated a more responsible and faster approach through the "Housing for All" project, which involves the construction of apartments in locations where the necessary infrastructure already exists and where it is possible to provide new housing units for citizens in a significantly shorter period of time.

They remind that the idea of ​​"Housing for All" implies the formation of a state fund with an initial capital of 20 million euros, from which the state would build apartments on municipal and state land according to the "design and build" principle. The state would pay the contractor for the apartments after technical acceptance, while citizens would have the opportunity to purchase them at a construction price of around 900 euros per square meter.

"The citizens of Podgorica need realistic, sustainable and achievable solutions, not projects whose feasibility will be determined only after months of research. The citizens of the Capital City deserve the truth, transparency and responsible management of the development of Podgorica, not false election promises and populism that will cost citizens millions of euros, without any fundamental change in housing policy," concluded the City Board of URA Podgorica.