The residents of the Nikšić building "Desetka", located in Njegoševa Street in the city center, feel as if it is not enough that they live in bad conditions and have problems with ownership, but in recent days they have often been the target of vandals and thieves. The night before, unknown perpetrators wrote graffiti with offensive and political messages both on the outside and inside the building, ransacked seven rooms located on the ground floor and took away some of the furniture. The tenants reported the case to the police, whose officers conducted an investigation, and will turn to the local administration for help.
"Three rooms were often broken into during this month. They are occasionally inhabited by tenants who, due to the small space, which is seven square meters, mostly live in the countryside. We thought it was someone 'preparing the ground' to move in illegally, but now we see that this is not the case. Certain things were taken from certain rooms during the previous night, and complete furniture was taken from one room," said Milan Bajović, manager of the building where he has lived for almost three decades.
According to him, there is no light on the ground floor, which was convenient for thieves, and the tenants noticed that around three in the morning, three middle-aged men left the building.
"It wasn't enough for them to break down the doors and take away the furniture, but they also ransacked the entire building and pulled out the cables. It was similar before, except that it was an attack on electricity. Now we have protected that part so that no one can physically approach, and this is now an attack on all of us", said Bajović.
There are 1956 apartments in the building, which was built by Željezara in 37 for the needs of single workers. According to Bajović, 12 families and a dozen single people live there permanently, while the rest come occasionally.
"I was a witness when a quantity of goods was thrown out and when the Roma came and put it in the trash can. At the time, I did not know that it was a question of goods from these rooms that were thrown out by those who broke in there. It seems their point was just to do damage. I have the impression that this act of vandalism was ordered, I just don't know from whom," said Miodrag Nikčević, who has lived in the building for almost 40 years.
The tenants who live there did not get a permanent solution to the housing issue from Željezara, so they settled for a temporary one and adapted one or more rooms, depending on their financial capabilities.
"We ask to be protected or we will protect ourselves. We cannot live in fear. We will also turn to the Municipality for help. We will be forced, if they don't protect us, to engage on our own initiative, to guard," said Bajović on behalf of the tenants.
With the sale of Željezara and the division of property, the building belonged to "MMK Standard", which was then bought by the Nikšić company "Kom comerc". Due to the accumulated debts for taxes and contributions, they transferred the building to the Ministry of Finance, which ordered the Municipality to resolve the property legal issues of the tenants.
"We were all given rooms as iron factory workers and as singles. As there was no possibility of further expansion, we stayed there. We didn't get anything from the social program, without this. Officials in the state said that the building was given to the Municipality to regulate illegally settled families. Who could judge that without a court and say that we are here illegally. Although our status is still in question, we hope to stay here where we have spent 30-40 years," said Bajović.
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