The representatives of the "Malina Polimlja" association claim that immediately after the asphalting of the six roads, which were done according to the proposal of the cluster of raspberry growers, in the last year, those roads started to deteriorate.
In addition, none of their proposals for asphalting were passed, which is why they will ask for a justification study.
Asphalting of six roads last year is part of a project that raspberry growers implemented as a constitutive member of the cluster as part of the "Development of Clusters and Rural Areas" project, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, local administration and IFAD UN, which included two water pipes, with a total value of 300 euros, while, through the same program, this year their proposals were rejected.
The president of the "Malina Polimlja" association and the "Bjelopoljska malina" cluster, Andrija Delić, said that 20 days after the asphalting, agricultural producers called him claiming that the asphalt was poorly done and that it had started to fall apart.
"After visiting the road routes, I was convinced that the asphalted roads were very badly done. In some parts, it was seen that the asphalt was being washed away by the rains, that some of them were made with a bad base, and it even happened that in some parts it was breaking under the pressure of the feet", says Delić.
He verbally informed the contractors, the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as the local administration about everything, but he only received words of promise that they would fix the problem.
"Also, I contacted the company Štrabag, which is the contractor, and in the conversation I received a promise that every road direction will be repaired where necessary. However, time passed and apart from the promises made, nothing happened. I then wrote to the Ministry of Agriculture and the local administration - the construction and investment sector to send me a contract between them, as the contractor, and Štrabag, as the contractor, in order to see more specifically what characteristics those road routes should have. However, I was only met with being ignored," says Delić.
He stated that due to the administration's silence, he sent urgent calls, to which the Minister of Agriculture, Milutin Simović, practically stated in a letter that the contract on the Ministry's website in the IFAD section of the UN is a project, where only generalities are listed (who is the client, the contractor, the price of works by municipality, which court is competent in the event of a dispute...), but not the generals regarding the characteristics of the road, which is why he again sent a request to provide him with the generals, but there was no response from either the Ministry or the Municipality.
Because of everything, Delić appealed to the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data and Free Access to Information, with evidence "that the administration is acting contrary to Articles 3, 5, 13, 17 and 19 of the Law on Free Access to Information".
"The Agency did not react either, although it was obliged to provide me with the requested documents within 15 days, nor did it react to the urgency. After the administrative procedure ended, I initiated a dispute before the Administrative Court in Podgorica. Farmers from these areas must get the roads they deserve, as stipulated in the contracts, because being a farmer in the north is not a way of life, but a too difficult and painful struggle to stay on your hearth. Our villages have been emptied mainly due to the lack of basic conditions for life, and roads are one of those conditions. Especially when there is an attempt to raise agriculture in that area to a higher level than the primitive one," said Delic, adding that for justice, one should go as far as Strasbourg. In addition to this problem, Delić pointed out the questionability of the justification study for road routes that, through the same UN IFAD loan, were proposed for asphalting this year, because none of the road routes proposed by the "Malina Polimlja" association were accepted, but were evaluated that the studies are unjustified.
"Thus, we will see whether there was abuse of official authority by representatives of the local administration and the Ministry of Agriculture in this project. Was there an 'inflating of statistics' to justify one time and another," Delic said, adding that he has been fighting this battle for a year.
Municipality: Roads used for non-purpose, defects corrected
In the reply submitted to the "News", the Municipality states that the travel routes proposed by the raspberry growers in 2019 were done with quality. "In Bijelo Polje, a raspberry cluster was formed under the name 'Bjelopoljska malina' cluster, which includes, in addition to producers, cold storage and nurseries. The road routes that were made at the proposal of the cluster were made with high quality and in accordance with the needs of the development of rural areas. "These are uncategorized rural roads and on most of the road routes, the locals were present during the asphalting process, expressing great satisfaction," the answer reads.
It is stated that the 500-meter-long road to Godijevo Municipal Health Center cost 28.193 euros; in Bistrica municipality, 500 meters long - 30.486; MZ Čeoce, 300 meters, 33.618; MZ Cerovo, 500 meters - 51.470 MZ Nedakusi, 500 meters - 48.543, and in MZ Rasovo, two road directions with a total length of two kilometers cost 165.50. When asked whether the roads were built with the money of Montenegrin taxpayers, considering that the Ministry took a loan from IFAD UN in Rome, the Municipality explained that according to the rules of the international project, one part of the participation is provided by the Municipality and the end users, while the other part is provided from funds IFAD loan and by the Ministry. To the claims of the malindars that the roads were in a state of deterioration after a few days, they state that they did not receive any objection from the cluster, which sent a request for those road directions.
"However, we are aware that some of the road routes had certain deficiencies, mostly due to the inappropriate use of rural roads that were built for the needs of the village, and not for transporting weights of more than 40 tons. We reacted by repairing those road routes, even though they are not used for the needs that were presented to us and based on which we made road load forecasts at those locations. As for the request for a contract by the association, they point out that the request for a contract for inspection has entered the procedure in accordance with the Law on Free Access to Information, and that it will receive an epilogue in accordance with the procedure of the law".
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