Zagorje, a village you can't leave

At less than ten kilometers from Beran, the village of Zagorje is one of the few where life does not die out as quickly as in most rural areas in the north of Montenegro.

The president of the Beran local community, Radovan Lutovac, emphasizes that migrations have not bypassed them, but that people still live in the full sense of the word in this village.

"Zagorje has a perspective and there are still plenty of young people and agricultural producers. "Thanks to the financial allocations of the local administration and the Ministry of Agriculture, but especially to the work of the locals, a lot of important infrastructural work has been done, all for the sake of raising the standards of the local population," said Lutovac.

According to him, special attention is directed towards the modernization of the road network and connection with neighboring local communities and the city.

The village has 90 households with about 300 residents.

"The municipality and the Municipal Agency for Construction and Development met our demands as much as possible, so that the main road over two kilometers long was asphalted, almost all the macadam roads were paved and new ones were built to the most remote households," says Lutovac.

He hopes that it will not stop there and that immediately after winter, the road to the neighboring village of Petnjik will begin to be paved, as well as the road through Berotaš, which connects Zagorje with Donji Luga, which would connect several villages and practically establish a cross-flow of traffic. in this part of Beran municipality.

"The local administration also helped with the construction of the chapel in Zagorje. It is a building that will cost over 30.000 euros. The building is covered and now work is being done on the interior of the building. Earlier, the municipality also helped equip the village sports field," said Lutovac.

The president of the local community of Zagorje adds that the Ministry of Agriculture helped repair one pump that supplies the village with water, as well as that the construction of a water supply system is underway on Mount Cmiljevica, where cattlemen from this village stay during the summer season.

"Our wish is to light up the village, so we have submitted a request for the installation of street lighting, and we are in agreement with the utility company regarding the establishment of garbage collection from Zagorje. That way we will be even closer to the city and we will create all the conditions to keep young people in the village", says Lutovac.

Locals of Zagorje are in the center of this beautiful place and have started building a church dedicated to St. John Vladimir.

"The land for the construction of the church was donated by the family of the late Svetislav Bojović. The foundations of the future temple were poured and the construction of the sanctuary began. A lot of materials have also been acquired, so we sincerely hope that the church in Zagorje will soon shine in its full glory", says the president of the Church Board, Peđa Bojović.

Locals of Zagorje appealed to the competent institutions to design programs for the creation of new jobs.

"The biggest problem in Zagorje is that we have a lot of unemployed people. That's why we ask that, with the aim of strengthening the villages and stopping emigration, projects are designed that would bring about the creation of jobs", says Lutovac.

The locals of Zagorje believe that they are not immodest, and that everything should be done to help this village, which is still living to the full, from the local and state authorities.

"More significant aid must be directed towards stimulating agricultural and livestock production. We are completely close to the city and there are all the conditions to open a shopping center here and employ quite a few young people on the doorstep. In this way, we would set an example to the residents of other villages, from where many leave, that life in the village has its advantages and that the village has a future", says Lutovac.