The Kotor police have been silent for two days and do not answer the question of how they allowed the holding of a problematic public gathering - torchlights on the walls and along the waterfront in Kotor on the occasion of celebrating the Statehood Day, July 13.
"Vijesti" is also waiting for the answers of the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Kotor, which launched an investigation in connection with the outbreak of fire on the Kotor ramparts and the information obtained by the prosecution in connection with the identification of the organizers of that public gathering, the procurement and introduction of several hundred pyrotechnic devices into the protected cultural monument. - torches, as well as the roles of managers of this cultural asset - the Directorate for Arrangement and Construction of Kotor, which manages the ramparts, and its director, Zoran Mrdak (DPS).
The public meeting, which violated the valid orders of the Ministry of Health issued with the aim of preventing the spread of a dangerous infectious disease - the coronavirus, was organized contrary to the Law on Public Order and Peace, the Law on Explosive Substances and the Law on Protection and Rescue.
It was organized, for now, by unknown organizers, and it turned into a scandal because they caused a fire with torches, which endangered part of this cultural monument of the first category under the protection of UNESCO.
The Kotor firefighters, with the help of torchbearers, spent the whole night extinguishing the fire, which was reported to them around 22 p.m., and was localized at 1.30:5 a.m. Not fully extinguished until just after 14am on May XNUMXth.
The Mayor of Kotor Željko Aprcović (DPS) told "Vijesta" yesterday that it is not true that during the fire on the ramparts on the Sveti Ivan hill above the Old Town, one pine burned.
"That is absolutely not true. All the pines under San Giovanni are still there and only the grass and low vegetation have burned," said the first man of Kotor, although the commander of the Protection and Rescue Service of the Municipality of Kotor, Maksim Mandic, told "Vijesti" a day earlier that several hundred square meters of the area under low vegetation and one pine.
Aprcović did not even comment on the remark that the co-owner of the "Splendid" hotel, Žarko Radulović, had previously spoken about the burnt pine tree, who the day after the fire met with the first man of Kotor, stressing that "they considered the situation outside of any politics".
Yesterday, Aprocović did not comment on the fact that the organizers of the torchlight at the Kotor fortress violated the valid seasonal ban on lighting fires outdoors and on public areas, which was signed by the mayor himself, and which is valid from June 1 to September 30. By the way, Kotor is plastered with posters with which the Municipality and the Protection and Rescue Service draw the attention of citizens that they must strictly comply with this order and "refrain from any action that may lead to the outbreak of an uncontrolled fire".
"We are surrounded by the indescribable beauty of the Bay of Kotor and hundreds of years old buildings that are under the protection of UNESCO. Please preserve them with us, for future generations. Every tree is a priceless gift of nature, it can disappear in an instant in a fire, but it takes decades to grow another. Don't do anything that can contribute to its disappearance, because it is a life choice", it says, among other things, on the posters that were put up by the Municipality and the Protection and Rescue Service at the beginning of June, along the territory of the entire municipality of Kotor.
They reminded the citizens that according to the law, for violating the order on the seasonal fire ban and "leaving burning objects in places where there is an increased risk of fire", they are threatened with fines in the amount of up to 2.000 euros.
In previous years, prison sentences were also imposed for setting fires - the police and the prosecutor's office arrested and prosecuted a Polish citizen SZD for starting a fire above the bar settlement Šušanj in the summer of 2017. The Pole, he said, set the fire to signal to the rescuers where he was because lost in the forest, but he was sentenced to one year in prison for causing general danger.
Lalošević: I was shocked by that event
The former director of the Regional Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Kotor, Ilija Lalošević, told "Vijesti" yesterday that he was "surprised by what happened two nights ago on the ramparts, because for 20 years there has been a ban in Kotor on holding illuminations with open flames on that cultural and historical monument ".
Lalošević, who also earned his doctorate on the Kotor fortress and fortifications from the Venetian period in Boka, is one of the best experts on the walls, bastions and other buildings that make up the complex system of the medieval Kotor fortress.
He was the head of the Regional Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments from 1999 to 2004, and he says that it was at the initiative of this institution that the illumination of Kotor's ramparts, which for several decades previously was usually done with the use of open flames during major festivities, was abolished and then banned. such as the traditional Bokelje night.
"Right now, after one of those Bokelje nights, I as the director of the RZZSK and the then representative of UNESCO who was on an official visit to Kotor, Fubomishi Kudo from Japan, climbed the ramparts and went to the San Giovanni fortress. He was amazed to see on the walls the remains of burnt sawdust and oil, which were then used for lighting, and he could not believe that such a thing was being done on this valuable architectural and cultural heritage. Kudo was so shocked by the condition of the ramparts that he instantly took out 2.000 dollars from his own pocket and presented them as a personal donation for cleaning and decorating the Kotor fortress. Since then, any illumination of the ramparts using an open flame is strictly prohibited," said Lalošević to "Vijesta", who a few years ago received the highest recognition of the city of Kotor - the "November Award" for his contribution to the protection and improvement of the Kotor fortress and walls and their inclusion on the list heritage under the protection of UNESCO in 2017.
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