In the hamlet of Jasikovac, in the village of Timar in Šavnica, two families live - the Jovovići and the Smolovići. A total of nine. They can be reached on foot over a dilapidated wooden bridge, and by car over the Bukovica river, and then on a steep undulating road that was broken seven years ago. The problem is that there is no bridge over the river, so you can cross it by car only from June to mid-September.
"Everything we bought before - flour, sugar, other foodstuffs, we carried on our backs, then across the bridge, and furniture on oxen, then across the river. What a black 21st century! We haven't entered it yet and I don't know when we will," laments Tomana Jovović, who lives with her brother Zeko and her sick mother Vidosava.
You can cross the river by car only from June to mid-September, Photo: Ivan Petrušić
He says fear is their best ally.
"We constantly live in fear. We don't know when someone will get sick, what can happen to a man who constantly does physical work... This happens in the city, let alone in the countryside where it is constantly being worked. For us, the bridge and road filling would mean life. At least one could cross the river. Probably the Djokovics, who moved to Belgrade, would have built a summer house here, so that they could live in their old age. But when there is no road, no bridge, who will come", says Tomana.
Zeko says that clearing the road for him and his brother, who lives in Belgrade, cost about 4.500 euros.
"The municipality gave us a machine, but we poured fuel, brought miners and paid them 15 euros per hole, surveyors... The road was built for 27 days, and it is 1.800 meters from the water to the house, not three kilometers, as some they say when they brag about having done the road," says Zeko.
"There is no life here. We have nothing": Zeko Jovović, Photo: Ivan Petrušić
As he says, it also bothers him that no one maintains the road.
"We are about 18 kilometers away from Šavnik. Last spring, I called the President of the Municipality to clean our road, he promised a machine and cheated. For some, the road can be cleared so that they can get wood out of the forest, but not for us to get to the house. I have nothing against others cleaning themselves, and they should, but they forget us. "For some people, the road is filled up to the katun, which few people reach, but for us it is not possible to get to the house", says Jovović.
He adds that since spring "he must have manually removed two or three truckloads of stones from the road".
"We use the road from June to September. As soon as the rains start, there is no crossing over it. If a bridge were built over Bukovica, which is seven meters wide, and a road was built, everything would be different. But we always get only a promise from the Municipality that cannot be fulfilled", says Zeko, who with his sister keeps six cows, 30 sheep, grows potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, carrots...
Brother Janko lives in Podgorica and often comes to visit them and help. He says that every time he comes happy because he will see his mother, brother and sister, and he returns sad because the journey across the rivers costs him nerves when he thinks that something should happen to his family. Who would wear them to the road...
"Mother is 80 years old, she is in no health and when she has to see a doctor we carry her to the road. The Municipality says that they are not interested in building a road for one or two houses. "It seems that it is in a much better interest for both families to move out of here and leave the hearth," Janko said bitterly.
The Smolovićs have six family members, two of whom are high school students.
"We don't like it here. As far as nature is concerned, the village is beautiful, but you cannot live off nature. That's why our life is sad - we don't have a road, and we don't even have electricity and water. We use this road across the river for several months, because when the river swells it is impossible to cross. I have a 19-year-old son who did not want to study and decided to stay in the countryside. Honestly, I don't know what kind of future he can have here," says Nada Smolović.
She married her daughter and has three children with her, her husband and her brother-in-law. Although she would like to always be close to the children, she says that the stronger desire is for the children to go where their lives are better.
"The children have transport to school and that is the only bright spot. I hope that when they finish school, they will not stay in the village, because they have no future. Life is hard here. While we had a little forest, we cut down and sold it, but everything we had was cut down, everything that could be sold was sold. "We keep about 30 sheep and a cow and take care of other people's lives, because the children have to be fed and educated," said Nada.
"There is no life here. We have nothing," said Zeko instead of greeting.
No water in summer, no electricity in winterJovović and Smolović never have enough problems. They have electricity and water, but it seems they don't.
"Electricity was brought in 40 years ago, and we don't know if any poles have been replaced since then. Instead of the voltage being 220 volts, here it is 160, so even though I have an electric stove, I haven't baked bread in it yet. I turn on the washing machine at night. As soon as the wind gets a little stronger, we don't have electricity, and in the winter we don't have it any more than we do. That's why we hardly have water in the summer. Then the electricity is bad, because the weekenders come, and since the water supply is via a pump, it cannot work due to low voltage. With us, everything happens from time to time," Tomana tries to joke.
It all depends on financesThe President of the Municipality, Mijomir Vujačić, said that he knows that the situation in Jasikovac is difficult, but that it will depend on finances when it will get better. By all accounts, the bridge over Bukovica will be just an unfulfilled wish of Jovović and Smolović for a long time.
"The local administration is working as much as it can. We clean the road when and as much as we can, and that area is included in the strategic plan until 2017. In order to build a bridge and fill the road, we need a lot of funds, which, unfortunately, we do not have. We will record the terrain and we will see what we can do during the next year", said Vujacic.
Gallery
Bonus video:
