In the referendum, which will be held in Zeta on December 14th, regarding the issue of building a wastewater treatment plant (collector) in Botun, 12.747 citizens will have the right to vote - the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) told "Vijesti" yesterday.
According to data from the Ministry of Interior, published yesterday on the government's website, 12.572 citizens had the right to vote in the 2023 parliamentary elections (the last in the territory of Zeta). The number of newly registered voters is 694, while 351 citizens lost that right.
In early October, the Zeta Municipal Assembly unanimously adopted a decision to call a local referendum to ask citizens to vote on the construction of the collector.
According to the Law on Local Self-Government, “a municipal referendum may be called for the purpose of prior declaration by citizens on the territory of the municipality on certain issues within the jurisdiction of local self-government in cases, in the manner and according to the procedure established by the municipal statute, in accordance with the law” (Article 163).
About 20 days ago, the residents of Botun set up a tent and announced that they would defend the construction of the collector with a day-and-night guard, announcing that they would remain on the ground until the referendum day, and even longer “if anyone tries to carry out the works by force”. The Inspection Department ordered them to remove that tent, which they claim they did, setting up another one in the meantime.
At the beginning of the week, a delegation from Botunja had a meeting with the mayor of Podgorica. Saša Mujović (Europe Now Movement). After the meeting, Mujović said that they had opposing views, but that they had not found a compromise solution.
Director of the Podgorica company "Waterworks and Sewerage", Aleksandar Nišavić He told the editorial office the day before yesterday that the Capital City and that company could start construction of the collector in Botun as early as next week.
The construction of the plant in this Zeta settlement has been talked about for more than a decade, and the topic has grown from a local issue to a national issue. From the Government Milojko Spajić (Europe Now Movement) have repeatedly emphasized that the construction of the collector is a key item in closing Chapter 27 (Environment and Climate Change) in negotiations with the European Union (EU), and this position is shared by European officials.
The collector should solve the issue of wastewater treatment from the capital, because the existing plant was built in 1978 and was designed for 55.000 residents, while Podgorica today, according to the 2023 census, has almost 180.000 residents.
The Botun facility is the largest environmental project the EU has supported in Montenegro to date, providing almost €33 million in grants for a new sewage system and collector, covering over 40 percent of the total investment, with additional support through a loan from the KfW bank.
The construction of the collector is opposed by locals, the Municipality of Zeta and the Democratic People's Party Milan Knežević, who threatened that his party representatives would "overthrow" the government in Podgorica if the project was implemented. They claim that the construction of the collector would negatively affect the environment and people's health, and the locals said that they would "defend their village with the only thing they have - their lives."
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given the Capital City approval for the Environmental Impact Assessment Study of the collector, claiming that there can be no pollution of air, water and soil, that flora and fauna are not endangered, and that the planned system is based on the application of the most modern technologies...
The project for a new wastewater treatment plant in Podgorica has been discussed for more than a decade, ever since the time when the city was headed by Miomir Mugoš (Democratic Party of Socialists).
During the term of office Slavoljub Stijepović (Democratic Party of Socialists), in 2017, a loan agreement was signed with the German Bank for Reconstruction and Development and an EU donation of 10 million euros was obtained. All the while, the residents of Botun opposed the project.
Mujović has repeated several times that the construction of the collector in Botun must begin by the end of the year, because this is the only way for Podgorica to get a wastewater treatment system without having to pay tens of millions of euros in damages if the work does not begin.
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