Although Žabljak was full of tourists last weekend, many of them who wanted to walk to the Black Lake were hindered by a path covered with snow and ice, which, as they pointed out, looked more like a bobsleigh track than a walking path, but also an unclean road from the city center to the lake ramp.
Lazar Osmajić from NP "Durmitor" confirmed to "Vijesta" that the road from the city center to the promenade is covered in ice, that it is in a "horribly bad condition" and that, as he pointed out, they are doing everything in their power, but that they are not responsible for road cleaning is the local utility company.
The President of the Board of Directors of JP National Parks of Montenegro, Marina Jočić, announced that during the entire winter season in Žabljak, the road to the Black Lake is not maintained and that due to such a situation, the National Parks suffer enormous damage, and that "only the most persistent and physically prepared" reach the Black lakes.
"Appeals to the local utility company and other entities in charge of road maintenance are in vain. The workers of NP 'Durmitor', even though it is not within their competence, do their best to make the road to the lake usable, but it is not enough and we suffer huge damages every day", announced Jočić.
She pointed out that it doesn't matter to the employees of that company "whether it is the incompetence or the evil intent of the local government", but also that due to "laziness and carelessness" NP "Durmitor" and tourism as a whole in Žabljak are suffering and called the authorities in the municipality of Žabljak to start with the improvement of the mentioned road, "for the benefit of the citizens of Žabljak, the National Park 'Durmitor' and the entire winter tourist season".
The director of the Žabljak company "Community and water supply" Radovan Bošković said that they do not have a signed contract with the National Parks on the maintenance of the promenade, the section of the ramp - Crno jezero, and therefore they are not obliged to maintain the mentioned direction, because it is a "promenade through which public traffic to the lake is prohibited, in the way that the National Park installed the ramp", and that they cleared the road to the ramp, which is under their jurisdiction, as much as the conditions allow.
"The main reason why this company removed the snow from the promenade is solely the desire to make the Black Lake accessible to the residents of this city and tourists, and not because we are obliged to carry out these works. We also emphasize that the formation of ice is a consequence of low temperatures because the promenade is located in the forest and the sun itself does not warm, so we are trying to overcome all these and similar problems with limited resources and machinery and keep the promenade passable", Bošković said in his reply.
He invited the members of the Board of Directors to come and sign the contract on the maintenance of the promenade, "since they want to show their goodwill and solidarity as idleness or buy the necessary equipment and maintain the promenade independently".
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