The President of the Municipality of Ulcinj, Nazif Cungu, promised a year ago financial consolidation, environmental protection of Solana, Valdanos and the Old Town, and the creation of a favorable investment environment.
Today, on the eve of the Municipality Day, which is celebrated on Saturday, Cungu has little to boast about, the opposition claims.
The president of the local SDP, Skender Elezagić, said that the local government will be remembered as the government with the most promises made and the least fulfilled:
"Municipality Day is an opportunity to present to citizens and guests a short report on successes and achievements between the two holidays, but his notebook is empty".
He assessed that it is the government with the least efficiency and the most internal conflicts and subversion.
Out of a total of 33, the coalition has as many as 27 councilors.
Cungu said a year ago that the new government inherited problems, that the city is in a delicate situation, but that the coalition of DPS, Forca, the alliance around the Democratic Party and the Democratic Union of Albanians will know how to respond to the challenge.
Elezagić says he has no doubt that there will be talks and new promises on Saturday too - a new date for the start of the construction of the "Jadran" or "Galeb" hotels, the announcement of a new tender for the road Ulcinj - Krute, the announcement that next year we will declare "our" honorary citizens Steinaker (Gudrun Elizabet, former ambassador of Germany) and "his" Nišani (Bujar, president of Albania).
The Vice President of the Municipality, Hatidža Đoni (DUA), claims, however, "that not everything is as black as some would like to present".
She assessed that there are significant positive steps forward in the functioning of the government:
"First of all, I think that we managed to bring the spending of budget funds to a level of high transparency and regularity. For me... that is a big step forward. We adopted the Spatial-Urban Plan, which is the basis for the adoption of detailed plans that will speed up the overall development of the city ".
She says that she is not satisfied with the dynamics of creating conditions for the realization of capital investments, "but that there were such circumstances".
"We worked a lot around Solana and Valdanos, and as a result of that, in the PUP, we articulated the demands of the local population for those areas, and that is the success of this coalition. The preparation of a study for the protection of Solana, worth 300.000 euros, is underway, and the expert team includes and representatives of the local community".
She stated that near the end, the expropriation of land in parts of the city is necessary for the start of the implementation of the waste water drainage capital project.
He says that he hopes that the announced legalization of smaller facilities in the city will fill the city coffers, so that the local government can implement projects important for creating a favorable climate for investment.
DF councilor Milan Rolović said that the local administration has no reason to celebrate and that "the citizens are apathetic and disappointed after the failed new year".
"And there was a promise... that, with political will, they would return the olive grove in Valdanos to the old owners. The owners know that they are just as far from that goal as they were a year ago...".
He emphasized that the city received a PUP after eight years, but "that the local government had nothing to do with the creation of that plan, because it was financed, developed and adopted by the Government, which is a unique example in Europe".
"With the PUP, during the last year, we have witnessed the most intensive illegal construction, which even the state authorities and all the ministers could not keep quiet during their recent visit to Ulcinj. They came, saw, had lunch and left! And construction is still going on. Although I am of the opinion that someone who has been waiting for the Detailed Urban Plan for 20 years, and needs to build because they can't wait for it forever".
Instead of promises, he said, the citizens got "an increase in the residence tax, real estate tax, more expensive water and municipal waste."
"It was voted to start repaying loans for the 'rehabilitation plan and overcoming the difficulties of local self-government'. Thus, we have the latest debt of 650.000 euros. It will be the third loan debt for the same purpose, because at the end of 2014 we took 1,2 million euros from Atlas Bank and 2015 million euros at the end of 4,25. To this should be added 20 million euros from KFW Bank and another 5 million from the European Investment Bank for the construction of the sewerage and water supply network. An additional debt of 5,65 million euros is planned for this year , and the entire budget for 2017 is 15,37 million. Well, people, judge for yourself".
Rolović reminded that the government owes up to 12 salaries to certain organizations financed from the budget.
As Municipal Day, Ulcinj celebrates the first Saturday in April, which symbolizes the end of the olive harvest, the beginning of the season and the departure of sailors to the ships.
There will be more problems in Valdanos
Rolović said that the promises about banning construction in Valdanosa bay are a separate story.
"Just wait for the Special Purpose Plan for the Morski Dobr belt. Only then will new problems arise in Valdanos, and possibly in the Solana basin as well."
He told the authorities that, if 6,1 million euros is not enough for the consolidation of the Municipality's finances, they should spare them from further consolidation.
"If in the coming period, until the new elections, you work as you have done so far, everything you promise on April 1, on Ulcinj Day, will be taken as an April Fool's joke, and only buttons will remain from the property of Ulcinj".
They don't even know how to spend the money they have
Elezagić says that the current government does not even know how to spend the provided money:
"It will be almost a year and a half since the Assembly passed Decisions on borrowing 5 and 20 million euros, under favorable conditions, with guarantees from the Government, to solve the problem of waste water. On the ground, it is not seen that a single pickaxe has been stuck for this purpose , and even the Assembly does not have any information that a single euro of that money has started to be spent".
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