Rožaje: As much as 34.000 euros for cleaning the Ibar

The municipality of Rožaje, in addition to the budget for this year, spent close to 34.000 euros for the September cleaning of about 600 meters of the Ibar riverbed, "Vijesti" learned from a source close to the local leadership.

The money for this purpose was transferred from the local treasury to the giro account of the Municipal Enterprise, which then, without a tender, directed part of the funds to the accounts of two private companies and the NGO "Moje Rožaje", headed by the head of the municipal Information System Service, Rahman Škrijelj. (BS).

From the office of the President of the Municipality, Ejup Nurković, they said that the riverbed of the Ibar River was organized on the initiative of the NGO sector and citizens.

"The municipality accepted and supported that idea. The main burden of the action, in which the water supply and several private companies were involved, was carried out by the utility company. It is not remembered that in the last 50 years such a thorough action to improve the Ibar riverbed, which in completely succeeded", the cabinet announced.

The local administration did not want to answer how much the action cost, noting that the costs will be made public in the financial report for 2014. The question of "Vijesti" also remained unanswered, why at the beginning of the mandate of the new government, which claims that the previous one left it with large debts due to which it is crammed with money, the priority was to clean up the Ibar.

Although the arrangement of the riverbed was also praised by the citizens, waste began to accumulate in the river a few days later. The local administration appealed to citizens to protect Ibar, but also said that the Municipal Police must be more efficient and stricter for those who behave irresponsibly.

However, until yesterday, the Communal Police, "Vijesti" learned from their officers, did not have any intervention related to the protection of the riverbed, for the cleaning of which taxpayers' money was spent.

KP unofficially confirmed that the work cost 34.000 euros. In the official response, they said that it was a statutory obligation of the company, but that recently there had been several petitions from residents of Ulica Jaha Kurtagić to clean the river.

Assistant director for economic and financial affairs Ismet Hadžić said that the intervention in the river was necessary. He said that the two companies expressed their own initiative and that "it was not a profitable engagement".

"Both of these companies offered free engagement for eight-hour work of mechanization and manpower. Obligations towards these companies are reflected in the payment of fuel used per working hour, i.e. per round of material removal. For the voluntary engagement of activists of the NGO "Moje Rožaje", KP's obligations are reflected in the procurement raw materials for the restoration of communal furniture," said Hadžić, who did not specify how much these "obligations" exactly amount to.

Based on the documentation that "Vijesti" had access to, between four and five thousand euros were invoiced to all three entities, for which, based on the law, it is necessary to call for a tender.

"Keeping in mind that this is a regular statutory obligation and that these tasks are performed by KP as an obligation from the part "maintenance and arrangement of public areas", and a tender is not called for it, but is treated as a regular activity of the company", said Hadžić.

Used to spend less money to clean the river

For the cleaning of about 400 meters of the river bed, which was part of the regular annual activities, in previous years, 10 times less money was spent, that is, between three and four thousand euros.

For these needs, the Municipal Company has never hired private companies, considering that KP has the complete necessary machinery to perform that work.

The Rulebook and Statute of the KP did not foresee or allow the cleaning of the Ibar to be paid to any non-governmental organization. The director of the NGO "Moje Rožaje" Rahman Škrijelj, despite his promise, did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" about the projects implemented by the NGO during the few months of its existence, who supported them and with how much money.

Gallery