HURRY: Efforts of big capital to further devastate the most beautiful hill in Podgorica are permanently suppressed

The civil movement URA announced that with today's signing of the agreement by the Minister of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, Ana Novaković Đurović, that the Gorica hill be declared a Monument of Nature, "puts an end to the three-decade devastation of that important area in Podgorica" ​​and "opens a new process of necessary harmonization of planning documentation in contact zones, so that the lungs of our city get the degree of protection they deserve".

The URA announced that their official Luka Rakčević submitted a request to the Assembly of the Capital City on February 10, 2020, to submit an initiative to the Environmental Protection Agency to declare Gorica a protected natural asset.

They added that the capital did so a day later, and today the Minister of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism, Ana Novaković Đurović, formally gave her consent for Gorica to receive such a protected property status.

"It is a big day for Gorica and our city, which bears its name, because this decision permanently suppresses the efforts of big capital to further devastate the most beautiful hill in Podgorica. After several years of persistent struggle, today we declare victory over investor urbanism in Gorica, with with the desire to win such a victory soon at the level of the entire city, as well as the state. Finally, the space must be planned in accordance with the needs of the citizens," pointed out the URA.

They stated that "Rakčević's initiative, according to which the study of the protection of Gorica was made, is the first big step towards the protection of the hills, but that before the Ministry there is an important and inherited problem of sorting out other planning documents, in order to prevent the devastation of space in other parts of the city".

"Almost all the plans, which are still in force, were made in accordance with the needs of investors and big capital, at the expense of the interests of citizens. It is not possible to fix such chaos overnight, but we welcome the determination of the new leadership of the Ministry to tackle the those inherited problems, in order to protect our space and adapt it to the public interest," the URA statement concludes.