Bojović: Reducing electricity bills for Pljevlja residents is a humiliating proposal and an insufficient measure

Reducing electricity bills for the people of Pljevlja is a humiliating proposal and an insufficient measure, Vladislav Bojović, a member of the Democratic People's Party (DNP) in the Parliament of Montenegro, announced today.

The Executive Director of the Electric Power Company of Montenegro (EPCG) Zdravko Dragaš announced earlier today that he has decided that EPCG will reduce the price of active energy for all households in Pljevlja by 50 percent in the next three months.

Bojović stated in the statement that he is calling on "all competent institutions, led by the Government of Montenegro, to urgently react to the situation of such dramatic pollution in the municipality of Pljevlja and, since we have known for decades what the cause is and who the polluters are, to immediately take all necessary measures to stop the ecological disaster with a record exceeding of the permitted values ​​of harmful substances in the air we breathe, especially since we still have a problem with the condition of our city water supply and soil pollution."

"Pljevlja and the people of Pljevlja are in an extraordinary situation and in a state of emergency, it is being asked whether someone will finally take action. We expect the central government to act and behave accordingly, taking everything necessary to prevent citizens, and especially children, who are already too few in our city, from continuing to be affected. Therefore, it is absolutely not enough to reduce the amount of electricity bills for three months for the citizens of Pljevlja, nor is it enough to exempt them from this obligation, bearing in mind that the ecological reconstruction of the Thermal Power Plant has not yet been completed, nor is it known for certain when the district heating system will be completed," Bojović pointed out.

He added that freeing up or reducing electricity bills will not solve the problem for people who have been living in ecocide for decades.

"It turns out that the people of Pljevlja are actually being offered the money they would save by paying a lower electricity bill to use for check-ups, pills, treatment preparations and, unfortunately, for chemotherapy. Therefore, proposing something like this after so many decades of illness and premature death while waiting for key measures and investments is both humiliating and unacceptable," said Bojović.

In his words, "the fact is that during the DPS rule, we continuously had an ignorant attitude from the central government and the EPCG leadership towards Pljevlja, even when it comes to demands to protect the health and lives of the people of Pljevlja."

"Let us remember that protests were organized on several occasions, the introduction of a state of emergency was requested, and extraordinary sessions of the Parliament of Montenegro were requested, which were never held, only because of the arrogant and humiliating attitude and rejection of the then ruling structures. Even from the top of the then state government, not only did responsibility and justification become relativized, but tasteless jokes were made at the expense of the demand of the people of Pljevlja that the ecological situation in our city be finally and forever brought to the level of satisfactory standards. We must not allow such an attitude to be repeated, especially since the latest indicators indicate that the measures taken so far have not yielded even remotely adequate results," said Bojović.

He said that citizens have every right to be not only disappointed, but also outraged.

"Therefore, it is precisely the attitude of the central government towards Pljevlja in this situation that should confirm that Pljevlja is indeed a city in Montenegro and that the central government views it as such, in the form of concrete measures to protect the rights and interests of the citizens of this city, and not just when it should be taken from Pljevlja. It is unacceptable, for example, that due to mere formalities, numerous citizens of Pljevlja who would switch to this type of heating are being rejected for a subsidy for the purchase of pellet stoves, and that no new public call for this type of subsidy for the people of Pljevlja is planned for the second half of this year. We ask, why were the deadlines for the implementation of the ecological reconstruction project missed and why was the Thermal Power Plant put into operation without this work having been initially completed? If the Thermal Power Plant must continue to operate, this cannot be allowed without first ensuring all conditions and meeting the highest standards in protecting the health and lives of the citizens of Pljevlja," said Bojović.

He said that "measures exist and money is absolutely and finally possible to provide for this city that has given so much to Montenegro, only if there is the will."

The Mayor of the Municipality of Pljevlja, Dario Vraneš, yesterday asked those responsible at the Ministry of Energy and Mining and EPCG to approve electricity subsidies for the citizens of Pljevlja during the winter in the amount of at least 50 percent, given that the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant significantly affects air pollution in Pljevlja.

News outlets reported today that Pljevlja is suffocating in one of the worst waves of air pollution in history, after being exposed to alarmingly high concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the air in recent days, many times above the permitted values, which is why the Pljevlja thermal power plant has once again been identified as the main culprit.

The extent of the pollution that can seriously endanger human health is best evidenced by the fact that in Pljevlja yesterday, in one hour, the SO2 concentration recorded was many times higher than in all other Montenegrin cities...

SO2 is a gas that is among the most dangerous air pollutants, and the highest values ​​were measured at midnight on December 13 - 805 micrograms per cubic meter of air, which is an infamous record since measurements were taken in Pljevlja. The permitted daily limit concentration of S02 in Montenegro is 125 micrograms per cubic meter, and the hourly limit is 350. The S02 concentration significantly exceeds the warning threshold of 500 micrograms per cubic meter, which, according to current regulations, requires urgent state response and immediate public notification.

After yesterday's meeting of the municipal emergency team, the Mayor of Pljevlja, Dario Vraneš, said that he had been contacted by the Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Milan Gazdić, and that he had confirmed that the main cause of the current pollution was the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant, which recently started operating after ecological reconstruction.

Vraneš also revealed at the time that the Pljevlja TPP, after its ecological reconstruction, is operating without a desulfurization plant, which is one of the key reasons why the project was implemented.

"Yesterday's meteorological situation further worsened the situation - thick fog rose high, so that the thermal power plant's chimney remained below that layer, and the desulfurization system has still not been put into operation. This means that the thermal power plant started operating without desulfurization, and this is the main cause of this pollution," Vranes said yesterday.

He then called on EPCG to, as he emphasized, "urgently stop the experiments on the citizens of Pljevlja," emphasizing that the situation in the city was unbearable.

Gazdić said today on Boje jutra on Television Vijesti that it is not true that the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed that the Pljevlja TPP was the only cause of pollution.