The Pljevlja board of the Civic Movement URA unanimously decided to withhold support from the local government.
They announced that they will continue to fight for the interests of Pljevlja from the opposition benches.
"In 2023, the Pljevlja URA supported the local government, primarily by giving a chance to the government that comes after a decade of DPS rule in Pljevlja, with the desire and intention to deal with topics that are important for the quality of life of all citizens of Pljevlja. Unfortunately, today, after almost two years of functioning of the local government, we notice that the priorities of certain government constituents are not the same, or even similar. We did not change the DPS so that other people would sit in the chairs and official vehicles, continuing the same pattern of behavior. We changed it to launch projects that our city had been lacking for decades, while the people who received support for city management obviously had other priorities that most often resulted in putting Pljevlja and the people of Pljevlja in the extremely negative focus of the Montenegrin public," the Pljevlja URA announced.
They said that the government in Pljevlja "is increasingly reminiscent of a crew without a helmsman", and that the fact that the government is still functioning without a signed coalition agreement speaks in favor of this, which, as they say, is "probably a unique example not only in Montenegrin politics, but also more broadly."
"The activities of the local government, or rather the inactivity in the implementation of capital projects related to the energy sector and improving the state of the environment, show a complete lack of any vision and desire for the development of the city. The citizens of Pljevlja are witnesses that in two years of its mandate, the local government has not yet managed to initiate work on the development of the secondary network, which is necessary for the successful implementation of the city heating project. The primary heating pipeline, which is so often mentioned in public as a great success, on which work is already being carried out, is not a guarantee that the people of Pljevlja will soon receive heating, on the contrary. If the Municipality of Pljevlja and the local heating company had taken care to ensure that the projects they run were synchronized and that they followed the projects run and implemented by the Electric Power Company of Montenegro, they would now be in the phase of carrying out work on expanding the secondary network in almost all streets in Pljevlja as well as building new substations. These activities would ensure that the citizens of Pljevlja can connect the entire projected consumption of 44 MWth to the heating source from the thermal power plant with the completion of the works on the primary heating pipeline and that in this way, by disconnecting about "4.000 individual combustion chambers will solve major pollution problems in our city," the statement reads.
URA says that, in addition, the local government led by Dario Vranes, nor the Government, has initiated anything regarding the implementation of large capital projects such as the construction of a gypsum processing factory and the production of gypsum products, nor the construction of a cement factory according to the strictest environmental standards.
"Namely, since after the completion of the ecological reconstruction project of the Thermal Power Plant, we will have about 140.000 tons of gypsum annually, which comes from the desulfurization process, the leaders of the Municipality of Pljevlja, and the Government of Montenegro, do not see this fact as an opportunity for the development of the city and the creation of about 80 new jobs in the gypsum processing factory. Due to the lack of professional staff, gypsum is unfortunately seen as a new by-product of the process, and not as a raw material for the development of a new, green and sustainable industry. Also, in terms of staffing for key positions in public institutions and companies, the local government did not deserve a passing grade. The most obvious example of this is the situation in the Stevan Samardžić National Library, where the library director is mobbing employees, handing out illegal dismissals, and all of this goes without a reaction from the authorities in the local government. Furthermore, they have succeeded in making the project of subsidizing the price of pellets meaningless, where we have a situation where in mid-February the Municipality has still not paid subsidies to citizens who use this type of heating," adds URA.
They said that because of all of the above, "and much more," they made the decision to withhold support from the local government.
"We will continue to fight for the interests of Pljevlja from the opposition benches, convinced that Montenegro and Pljevlja will receive a new, more professional and capable government in the coming period, which they deserve," the statement reads.
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