Even today, Montenegro is faced with the problem of five ecological black spots - the aluminum plant in Podgorica, the steel mill in Nikšić, the shipyard in Bijela, the thermal power plant and the coal mine in Pljevlje. In August, the opposition parties have yet to be formed.
The new government is greeted by other numerous problems in the field of the environment, and on the occasion of September 20, when the idea of Montenegro being declared ecological was confirmed on paper in Žabljak in 1991, "Vijesti" interlocutors say that even 29 years later, the story of an ecological state all that remained was an idea.
"Twenty-nine years have passed since Montenegro falsely presented itself as an ecological state, without doing anything at all to become one," professor and ecologist Dragan Hajduković, publicly recognized as the bearer of the idea of an ecological state, told "Vijesti".
DPS, which dominated the government for the past three decades, did not respond to the "News" about the current status of Montenegro when it comes to environmental protection.
However, this was announced yesterday by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism (MORT), a department that has been headed by Prime Minister Duško Marković (DPS) since the resignation of Pavlo Radulović (DPS). They said that even today they believe that sustainable development "has no alternative".
Interlocutors from the coalition "For the Future of Montenegro", the Civic Movement URA and Democratic Montenegro agree that it will be more difficult than in 1991, when the Declaration on the Ecological State was adopted in Žabljak. As one of the more important goals, they cite compliance with regulations, and as a priority - the further ban on the construction of small hydropower plants (MHP).
Zabljak in 1991.
The ecological state project was first presented in 1990.
"After the media presentation, I tried to win over the then government for the project. How it all began is best described by a quote from the book 'Less than a game - more than a life' by the then President of Montenegro, Momir Bulatović: 'In the days and months in which we were frantically looking for a way to get out of the impasse and set a new goal, a saving idea appeared . Dr. Dragan Hajduković, a physicist with an amazing power of imagination, in long conversations presented the idea and indications of the program to declare and make Montenegro the first ecological country in the world. Our conversations during the first quarter of 1991 prompted Bulatović to take action, which, half a year later, resulted in the adoption of the Declaration on September 20, 1991 in Žabljak. Already in the middle of spring, I was removed from the project forever..." Hajduković reminds "Vijesti".
Three months before the adoption of the Declaration, in June 1991, Momir Bulatović, Milo Đukanović and Svetozar Marović transformed the then Communist League into the DPS.
Although he has been an observer of the development of the idea of which he is the bearer for three decades, Hajduković still has the enthusiasm that it can actually be realized.
"The project of an ecological state is a development project, which, if the world would believe in the seriousness of our intention to become ecological, can bring us everything that Montenegro lacks for revival - world publicity, knowledge and capital. No other project can bring us such quick and great worldwide recognition, reputation, charm and sympathy and provide enormous help in knowledge, donations and socially responsible capital (the most humane part of world capital)".
Everything it can, Montenegro can produce on its own
When asked what specifically needs to be done, the professor said that it is necessary for Montenegro not to import anything that it can do better on its own.
"The production of healthy food can be worth more than the value of consumption. We spend more on water import alone than the budget for science".
As an example of projects that should be implemented, he cites the "ecotourism paradise of Lake Skadar".
"And not only Skadar, for more and more tourists who are allergic to civilization and 5-star hotels".
Hajduković sees the possibility of promoting such a Montenegro in "numerous, well-chosen contacts", which "can arouse enthusiasm and provide support from a large number of the most successful and famous people in the world".
"From the greatest scientists to the greatest singers, actors and athletes. Imagine that a large number of such personalities express their support and sympathy for the ecological state of Montenegro. With such famous 'green ambassadors', we would immediately be the center of very important attention and publicity of the world media. Celebrity support, media attention, newly acquired charm and, of course, serious work, would relatively quickly and easily lead to crucial support from knowledge centers, donors and socially responsible capital", says Hajduković, convinced that "for two election periods of four years each, Montenegro can become a "European and world wonder".
"It looks like a utopia, but it is a very achievable reality. Unfortunately, what I say is understood by only a single-digit percentage of citizens, and among the leading politicians, if this text does not wake them up, I don't know anyone who has dug deep and understood the project I am proposing".
What has the state done so far?
MORT announced yesterday that for the past 29 years, about 13,6 percent of the territory of Montenegro has been protected, that the largest part (7,7%) consists of five national parks, and that six nature parks have been established - "Piva" , "Dragišnica and Komarnica", "Orjen", "Rijeka Zeta", "Komovi" and "Ulcinjska solana".
There are ongoing protests against the construction of the MHP in the "Komovi" part of the park. The salt pan in Ulcinj became a construction site precisely because of the votes of the DPS. The salt pan in Ulcinj is one of the Ramsar sites, along with the NP "Skadarsko jezero" and the reserve "Tivatska solila".
MORT said that the NP "Durmitor" and the basin of the Tara River are under UNESCO protection. Tara is the subject of part of the report of the European Parliament from 2018, when they emphasized the need "for the cessation of all activities of waste disposal and alteration of the river bed and providing the general public with timely and accurate information about the effects of the construction of the highway on the river". UNESCO warned earlier that "the consequences of the highway construction on the river will remain visible, despite the remediation plan...".
MORT also reminded of mapping for the purpose of establishing the Natura 2000 ecological network. It has never been answered how it happened that part of the forest below Zeletin, the mountain between Andrijevica and Gusinje, as an Emerald zone and a potential Natura area, is the subject of a concession at all and that legal logging is allowed in that zone.
In connection with the remediation of "ecological black spots", MORT announced that work is underway to clean up the Shipyard location, and the ash and slag disposal site "Maljevac" and the Gradac flotation tailings in Pljevlje.
"While the preparation of technical documentation for the rehabilitation of the KAP site (solid waste landfill and red mud pools) is in an advanced stage."
Laws on paper, in practice without many concrete results
Speaking about the past 29 years, the coalition "For the Future of Montenegro" says that "not much progress has been made", and that the only progress is "a complete solution to the problem of the tailings in Mojkovac".
"We would even say that it has regressed, because in 1991 we were much closer to this goal than today. Since then, we have managed to turn rivers and streams into mobile garbage dumps and collectors for communal waste water, to destroy a dozen small watercourses that we stuffed into pipes, to fill the country with garbage, to concrete the sea coast, to have uncontrolled cutting of forests, to create a system that does not work in terms of preventing and controlling these phenomena. And we passed all the European laws in this area, regulations, established inspectorates, but nothing, or even most of it, came to life in practice", the coalition said.
They said that it is necessary to urgently solve the problem of waste and wastewater management...
"It has to be approached systematically, which requires a lot of financial resources, but fortunately, EU funds are available. Solving this problem must be started immediately".
As they add, the construction of MHPs must also be stopped, "because they benefit only the owners and no one else", to bring order to forestry.
"An ecological country must not allow the export of wood mass in the form of logs, nor that healthy and whole trees be used to make pellets for heating. It must be done in cooperation with the economy, because the goal is to generate as much profit as possible from as few cut trees as possible, so the sustainable use of wood resources is unthinkable without the wood industry".
In May 2017, Montenegro introduced a temporary and partial ban on the export of wood raw materials. The measure followed the same year Albania introduced a ten-year ban on cutting down forests, and similar bans existed in BiH and Kosovo.
From the coalition headed by Zdravko Krivokapić, they add that "strict application of existing legislation and penal policy" must be ensured, and even tougher sanctions in the area of environmental protection. They also said that it is necessary to clearly define the responsibilities, and that the "polluter pays" principle must be "holy scripture".
The "polluter pays" principle refers to the payment of compensation for the protection and improvement of the environment. On the basis of this environmental fee, Elektroprivreda, Rudnik Uglja and Gradira Montenegro recently paid the first installment in the amount of one million euros to the account of the Municipality of Pljevlja. For the year, those three companies are obliged to pay a total of slightly more than two million.
The Declaration on the prohibition of MHE is ready
And from the GP URA party, whose leader is Dritan Abazović, they said that the result of the Declaration from 1991 is today an ecological state only on paper.
"In the Declaration, it is written that the members of the Assembly are aware that due to the endangerment of nature, the protection of the identity of the space where we live and work has become our urgent and timely job. After 29 years since the Declaration was adopted, we have a catastrophic situation in the field of environment. The result of the Declaration is that Montenegro is an ecological country only on paper. What is happening on the field, and what we are witnessing, is the exact opposite of that. The devastation of natural resources from north to south is the result of a wrong policy that, instead of making the ecological state a unique brand in the world, managed to mark Montenegro as a black ecological point in the European and world context in many areas. Only certain NGOs, enthusiasts and international organizations are talking about environmental problems and measures, which have been drawing attention to problems in this area for years and which in some situations manage to move things from a standstill," said Ljiljana Jokić from that party to "Vijesta".
GP URA became a member of the Greens of Europe in mid-June. As a green party, GP URA said that further destruction of nature must be stopped.
"One of the most significant problems in this area is the problems that arise due to the construction of the HPP. The "Black on White" coalition prepared a Declaration on the prohibition of further construction of MHP, which was signed by more than 5.000 people. And that will be one of the first documents that we will propose to the Assembly", said Jokić.
The goal is a system where laws apply
The Democratic Montenegro of Alekse Bečić believes that ecology was not a priority for the outgoing government.
"Nature has continuously suffered before the interests of tycoons, and the DPS regime introduced this as a rule. Today we have devastated rivers, destroyed forests, dramatically polluted air in certain municipalities that are at the top of the list of the most polluted cities in Europe. We have also witnessed a number of environmental incidents - the death of fish in the Ćehotina river, the devastation of the Tara riverbed, Morača... General carelessness for the environment prevailed. Let's not talk about hydropower plants and ambitions to destroy rivers".
As a priority for the future, they state the establishment of a system "in which laws and rules rule".
"It is the foundation and basis of everything. Responsibility towards nature must be at the highest possible level. On the list of our priorities is the speedy rehabilitation of ecological black spots. Consistent implementation of the penal policy will increase the level of responsibility and environmental awareness. In the spectrum of short-term and urgent steps taken by the new government, stopping the devastation of the riverbeds is certainly important.
A small system as part of a global solution
Today, Hajduković places the idea of ecological Montenegro in the context of the general state of the environment on Earth.
"We live on a planet that is dying under the torture of the current system of production for profit, instead of production for the quality of life of all people. We have terrifying planetary pollution, water, land, food and air, and galloping climate change threatens to destroy life on Earth. Let's not forget the dramatic differences, as for example, that the richest people in the world who can sit together on a single plane, have more than the poorer half of humanity. On a planetary level, we live in a deeply sick 'civilization' that is unsustainable, the survival of humanity depends on great and urgent changes. This state of affairs on the planet is actually a chance for Montenegro. If he is lucky, a spirited and capable president, or at least an energetic and creative deputy prime minister for an ecological state, could completely change the current ugly image that Europe and the world have of the state of Montenegro already in 2021."
On the 29th anniversary of the declaration of Montenegro as an ecological state, two environmental protests are being organized today at 10 am. In the town of Bare Kraljske, in the Nature Park "Komovi", the locals are gathering because of the construction of the HPP on the rivers Crnja, Ljubaštica and Cestogaz.
Today there is a protest in Murin due to the cutting of "the highest quality forest in the area of the Plav municipality", which, they claim, is happening without the consent of the forest administration in Plav.
And these are not the first protests in those places, nor the first because of the attitude of institutions towards the environment...
Yesterday, beach cleaning actions were organized at 12 locations. The participants collected about 800 bags of waste.
MORT: The reconstruction of the Thermal Power Plant is the most important environmental undertaking
MORT said yesterday that in the field of waste management, activities are underway to implement projects for the construction of recycling yards and transfer stations in several Montenegrin municipalities, and a new center for waste management in the municipality of Bijelo Polje.
That the remediation of several large unorganized non-hazardous waste disposal sites has been completed, and that activities to establish a recycling system will continue.
That 10 functional wastewater treatment plants were built, and the server quality monitoring network expanded to as many automatic stations.
They also said that the ecological reconstruction of the "Pljevlja" thermal power plant "represents the most significant ecological undertaking", reminded that the Eco Fund has started its work, that Montenegro ratified the Paris Agreement in the field of climate change, and in December 2018 opened Chapter 27 - environment and climate change.
Bonus video:
