Action on the Meljine-Petijevići road: Ramp raised from 9 am to 10 am

Tolls on the Meljine - Petijevići road will not be charged from today until December 1, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

The company "Univerzal Monte" announced that they decided to take this step despite the difficult financial situation".

"For 'Happy hour', we didn't choose low-traffic hours, but we chose the peak hour in the morning," the company pointed out.

The 12,5 kilometer long section is part of the Herceg Novi - Trebinje road and was officially opened at the beginning of July 2008.

It was built as a public and private partnership, according to the BOT system (take, build, use and return) between the Municipality of Herceg Novi and the Belgrade company "Univerzal Holding", i.e. the company "Univerzal Monte" from Herceg Novi. The road was given to the investor for 20 years, after which it becomes the property of the Municipality.

The work cost 20 million euros. A good part of the road was built along the route of the old road that was reconstructed.

The experts also warned that the technical solutions are not in accordance with the traffic rules.

The concessionaire also received the exclusive right to decide on the construction of commercial and service facilities in the area around the road.

Lawyers then warned that such a decision was unconstitutional, but it is still in force today.

The municipality also gave "Univerzal Holding" 107.000 square meters of land at the location of Kotobilje, for which a location study was recently done, and according to the plan, the construction of a tourist resort is planned at that historical place, which was the scene of a decisive battle for the liberation of Herceg Novi from Turkish rule. The value of the land was then estimated at one million euros.

Although the road does not have a highway character, toll collection is approved. At that time, it was explained that the road gained international importance and the standard of a main road, although this was not verified.

The toll for motorcycles is 1,5 euros, for cars 3 and for trucks with a trailer 18 euros.

At the beginning of the works, 24 houses were damaged due to landslides

During the construction of the road, the contractor "Prijedor putevi" without permission deposited an excavation of the soil above the village of Podi, which changed the flow of groundwater that caused the landslide in February 2007.

Then 24 houses, road, electricity and water infrastructure were damaged in the hamlet of Mištica.

Locals sued the contractor and the company "Holding Monte".

According to the verdict of the Basic Court in Herceg Novi, the landslide was caused by a construction waste dump. The municipality of Herceg Novi paid for the first phase of land rehabilitation, but not for the compensation to the house owners.

What happened to the promises?

Dušan Radović Krušo, the leader of Izbor who holds power in Herceg Novi with the DPS, promised to abolish tolls in the election campaign last year.

At that time, according to announcements, the sale of municipal land on the Luštica peninsula was supposed to provide money for the payment of the concessionaire, behind whom stands businessman Vuk Hamović.