The members of the Municipal Assembly (SO) of Kolašin did not accept the initiative of over 200 Kolašin women and Kolašin men, which requested the suspension of activities on the Ljevaja river impoundment project for the purposes of snowmaking for ski slopes and water supply to the town and facilities on Bjelasica.
The signatories of the initiative requested that, as they say, the water potential of Bjelasica should be professionally and thoroughly examined before the start of work on that system, i.e. the possibility of collecting water for water supply and snowmaking from locations closer to ski slopes and mountain settlements.
The current project, which involves extracting water with pipes and pumps "uphill", was characterized as megalomaniac, of questionable sustainability and problematic impact on the environment.
The vote on the Conclusion, which was proposed by the citizens, divided the Kolašin ruling majority. Together with the opposition (Movement Zajedno gradimo Kolašin), the councilors of Democratic Montenegro and the New Serbian Democracy voted against the conclusion, while the majority of councilors of the Europe Now Movement (PES), the United Montenegro, two councilors from the Democratic People's Party (DNP) and one councilor each from the Civic Movement URA and the Socialist People's Party (SNP).
The representative of the signatories of the initiative, Milo Grujić, said that the project that the Municipality and the Government intend to implement is "against common sense".
"It is untrue that we want to prevent the development of the city and the improvement of the tourist offer in any way. We are against a project that means plunging into uncertainty, for several reasons. We believe that the project was preceded by procedures that were far from the eyes of the people of Kolašinac and Kolašinka, and that the project solution is contrary to the public interest, the basic standards of care for the environment, but also against the well-being of the citizens. Taking water from the Ljevaja River is contrary, first of all, to sound logic, because it implies the spending of millions of euros by the citizens of Montenegro, in order for the water to uphill to two ski centers, that is, mountain centers," he said.
Grujić informed the local and state authorities that, as he claims, the examination of the water potential in Bjelasica was not done in detail, and that the locals, unlike the hydrologists, discovered seven or eight generous sources, which rarely dry up.
He also reminded that the hydrological tests of Bjelasica did not include water from the tunnel under the mountain.
"During the conversation with the representatives of the company that was supposed to carry out work on the system that would guide the waters of the Ljevaja River, we learned that in the first phase of this project, for which between eight and nine million euros will be spent, artificial snowmaking will not be possible, but only to bring water to the mountain. Therefore, there is no snow even when that work is finished, but a new phase, new millions of euros and new works on the snow-making system are ahead," Grujić said.
However, Minister of Economic Development Nik Đeljošaj, who along with representatives of two other departments, attended the session of the local parliament, said that the ski resorts will welcome the next season with artificial snow.
He also recalled the changes the project was going through.
"The Directorate for Capital Investments previously announced a tender and a contract was signed with a contractor to build a water supply network. That investment would eventually become the property of Kolašin. Later on, a proposal came from the Water Supply Company to reduce the projected capacity for the water supply system, and then an annex to the contract was drawn up. with the contractor. The capacity of the projected water supply is 140 liters per second, of which the greater part of the water goes to the city, and a smaller part to the ski resorts. Now the conditions have been met for the works to start in a few days, that is, it will happen after the environmental inspection and after the verification of the Elaborate on environmental protection. The contractor has 200 days to do the work," he claims.
The local executive authority and the company Vodovod i Kanalizacija reminded of the importance of providing the city with an alternative water supply and of the fact that it was originally planned to capture 400 liters per second from Ljevaja. After that, Vodovod revised the project, that is, reduced the amount of water that will be taken from Ljevaja.
The councilors of GP URA Miodrag Vlahović and Pokreta Evropa sad Miličko Bulatović had numerous objections to the project.
On the other hand, Balša Cvetković from the Movement Zajedno gradimo Kolašin (DPS, SDP, SD and non-party personalities) asked "who will compensate the damage to tourist workers and caterers in the event that two more seasons pass without snow and snowfall".
"This season, the loss of the tourism industry is in the millions and there will be two more seasons without snow, which in the future will become the rule, not the exception, and we have suffered damage that is greater than nine million euros. I especially emphasize the damage that will be suffered by tourism workers and restaurateurs because "The state will come to the aid of the Kolašin 1600 Ski Center, the municipality will be assisted by the Equalization Fund, and large hotels in Bjelasica have already made part of their profits from the sale of condo apartments as part of economic citizenship," he said.
He claims that Kolašin does not have time to wait for the new Study on the hydrological potential of the Bjelasica mountain and that it would probably show the same as the Study that was done nine years ago.
Council members, at today's session, also discussed the balance of the winter tourist season.
The citizens' initiative to get information on how waste from facilities here on the mountain will be treated was withdrawn from the agenda, after Đeljošaj announced the plans of the Government, Municipality and investors, which will supposedly effectively solve the problem.
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