The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommended that Montenegro ban construction in the area of the protected area in the Bay of Kotor, until the Spatial-Urban Plan (PUP) of Kotor is completed and the management plan is changed, but the Government still did not extend the moratorium under construction in December last year.
Then, according to information, of the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIN-CG), the decision that prohibited construction in the part of the bay, which has been under the protection of UNESCO since 1979, has expired.
A moratorium on construction in the area was introduced in March 2017, due to several years of warnings by UNESCO that Kotor could be removed from the list of protected areas, precisely because of the excessive devastation of the area.
In September of last year, the previous Government adopted the PUP of Kotor, but there is still no end in sight for the development of the Management Plan, which should make the PUP functional in practice.
The Council for the Management of the Natural and Cultural-Historical Area of Kotor, headed by the President of the Municipality of Kotor Vladimir Jokić, does not function either. The Council should manage the protected area of Boka. After the change of government at the state level, new appointments are still awaited in that body, and there is no information available on the website of the Municipality of Kotor about the work of the Council.
The relevant ministries and the municipality of Kotor tell CIN-CG that UNESCO has approved the new PUP, and that is why the moratorium on construction has not been extended.
In the non-governmental sector, however, they believe that the moratorium had to be in force until the Management Plan is changed, but also that the new PUP is an "extremely bad planning document".
The development of the new plan took 12 years, and the Law on Planning and Construction of Facilities, which regulates this area, has been changed three times since then.
Even this new planning document, however, cannot prevent the construction of those who received a permit before its adoption, that is, registered the construction of a building.
Thus, even the moratorium did not prevent the destruction of the protected environment, because the construction of something that was "mined" could not be prohibited before the decision on the construction ban came into force.
This is how the beach in Dobrota was built, and the construction of a luxury hotel and tourist resort owned by Edin Kolarević, the cousin of the President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović, continued.
The construction of that complex caused great indignation in Boka, because the hotel was built on the site of one of the few remaining large green areas by the sea in Dobrota, when a centuries-old oak forest was cut down.
The authorities also allowed the "rehabilitation of the bathing area", which was once a small wooden platform on concrete pillars, and now is a sandy beach about 110 meters long.
The Center for Sustainable Spatial Development EXPEDITIO points out that due to excessive and inadequate urbanization, parts of this exceptional landscape have been completely devastated, the most obvious examples of which are Kostanjica and Dobrota. "Unfortunately, excessive and inadequate urbanization is still ongoing," says architect Biljana Gligorić, from EXPEDITIO.
UNESCO is waiting until the end of next year
A UNESCO report from July of this year states that the updated Management Plan should incorporate the recommendations of the 2018 mission "so that it becomes a fully operational instrument for the effective management of the entire property and its buffer zone."
It is also requested that by December 1, 2022, the state submits a report on the state of preservation of cultural property and the implementation of UNESCO's recommendations.
That organization, in the detailed mission report of the UNESCO Cultural Heritage Center from 2018, emphasized that the moratorium on new construction should be maintained until the adoption of the spatial plan and the amendment of the Management Plan, which should work in parallel and "which will identify the limited potential of sustainable construction without additional negative impact".
At that time, they also recommended abandoning the construction of the bridge on Veriga, new roads in Mul, Prčanje, Stolivo and Kostanjica; to change or cancel the bypass for Risan and the long bypass for Kotor and Dobrota; to cancel the urbanization in Morinje; not to build a tourist village in Glavati; to limit future construction in Mul, Prčanj and Stoliv, but also on the southern side of the Gulf of Tivat and Herzegovina; not to build between Ljuta and Dobrota, but also in Glavati and Morinje.
The representatives of the mission then emphasized that the bad consequences for the protected area were highlighted especially by the construction in Kostanjica, by the realized proposals on the location Autocamp in Kindness and proposal for Tourist village in Glavati - in Prčanje.
”In order for the good to remain registered on World Heritage List Drastic action is needed, at the very least so that Glavati and Morinj remain undeveloped," UNESCO warned in 2018.
The plan will not solve pressing problems
The protected area of Boka includes the southeastern part of the bay of 14.600 hectares and a buffer zone of 36.491 hectares and extends to four municipalities - Kotor, Tivat, Herzegovina and Cetinje.
Architectural engineer and member of EXPEDITIO Aleksandra Kapetanović points out for CIN-CG that, apart from the recommendation that these two plans be done in parallel, the recommendations that there should be no urbanization of steep slopes, that new construction should be of low density, and that it is also necessary to develop a plan of integrated traffic for the Boka area.
"Although, based on the recommendations, the Kotor-Dobrota bypass that was in the PUP draft was removed, the plan still foresees large-capacity urbanization for the Dobrota area," says Kapetanović.
Biljana Gligorić also assesses that the problem with the new PUP is that it deviates significantly from the standards of good planning documents "both in its structure, which makes it difficult to read and interpret, and in unclear and unfounded determinations that are difficult to implement or illogical in practice".
"It is a document whose leading planner has no experience in creating these complex documents," she points out.
EXPEDITIO also assesses that the PUP is not a document that will significantly contribute to the development of the protected area, nor will it bring a solution to pressing problems - traffic collapse, excessive urbanization and the lack of quality new, public facilities. "Everything that was done was mainly to respect the form according to UNESCO. Essential activities were not carried out. The management plan had to be adopted much earlier and seriously and efficiently applied".
Krekić: The moratorium is currently unnecessary
Architect Mladen Krekić, who was the main planner of the new PUP, admits that this document should have been created in parallel with the Management Plan. However, he points out that today construction in the area of Kotor is impossible, until that plan is adopted.
Is that right? Construction is still underway, Krekić confirms, even where permits were issued before the adoption of the PUP, when it comes to reconstruction, as well as the construction of buildings that have undergone a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA).
"The moratorium is currently unnecessary, because there is no logic in blocking the reconstruction and construction of buildings that have passed the HIA. It must certainly be done in accordance with the ambient space", Krekić points out.
Krekić assesses that almost all recommendations of UNESCO have been respected by the new Kotor PUP, and that the organization has given its consent to this plan.
He explains that a lot of things have been put in order. No more high-density housing construction. Only the ground floor, one floor and the attic can be built. He points out that the height quotas are fixed.
"I radically reduced all construction, this also applies to the entire buffer zone, the strategy was to minimally increase construction land only where necessary, to reduce the construction of apartments," he explains.
The management plan is delayed due to politics and corona
The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports (MPNKS) and the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism (MEPG) confirm for CIN-CG that the decision banning construction in Kotor expired in December last year.
MEPG refers to the Law on Spatial Planning and Building Construction, according to which the ban on construction is linked to the preparation of a planning document.
And they explain that the decision to ban construction was not extended, because in the meantime the PUP of Kotor was adopted, which is in accordance with the recommendations of UNESCO.
Spatial planning documentation, which was not harmonized with the new plan in terms of the purpose of the areas and the planned capacities for construction, was put out of force, they add.
"In this way, the construction area has been reduced, and therefore the pressure on the Bay of Kotor has been reduced," the ministry emphasized.
The President of the Municipality of Kotor, Vladimir Jokić, assesses that all preconditions have been created to permanently protect that area, while at the same time enabling its controlled and sustainable development.
The management plan, adds Jokić, is in the process of being developed and when it is completed it will be sent to UNESCO for its opinion.
"The Administration for the Protection of Cultural Properties issues conditions for smaller projects, and for each major UNESCO project, it gives consent through the HIA study," explains Jokić.
He points out that, considering the epidemiological situation that followed this year, the group for the development of the Management Plan did not meet in person, but held online consultations, but the meeting is expected as soon as possible.
From MPNKS, however, they admit that UNESCO recommended a ban on construction until the adoption of the amended Management Plan.
"Due to political changes at the local and national level, but also due to the observance of measures due to the newly created situation caused by the COVID-19 virus, the work process has been stopped on several occasions," explained MPNKS.
Kapetanović, who is also a member of the working group for the development of the Management Plan, reminds that the revision process of that plan began in March 2019 and that then the activities were intensive, but were stopped several times after the change of municipal authorities.
In February of last year, she resigned as a member of the Management Council, in which she was a representative of non-governmental organizations, with the explanation that there was an alarming deterioration of the situation in the protected area, that the Council was ineffective, as well as due to the decision of the former government to dismiss five members of that Council who were experts in the field of cultural heritage protection.
Kapetanović emphasizes that in practice it has been shown that the Council exists only as a form, but that in essence it has no influence on the processes taking place in Kotor. He also points out that the transparency of the Council's work has deteriorated, and that information is not publicly available.
"Although it is stated in the Rules of Procedure that the work of the Council is public, and that the minutes and all other documents adopted by the Council will be posted on the website of the Municipality of Kotor, no later than 7 days after their adoption", she reminds.
It is necessary, she says, that the Council gets a much more significant role in all processes concerning the development and planning of the area of the Municipality of Kotor.
According to data from the municipality of Kotor, 27 construction applications were submitted before the adoption of the PUP, which had to be approved by law. Some of those permits, which CIN-CG had insight into, provide for the construction of a tourist resort in Risno and a five-story building in Dobrota. Representatives of the non-governmental sector believe that these projects could further threaten Boka.
No more construction in Kostanjica, SDT is scouting Jokić
The Special State Prosecutor's Office (SDT) launched an investigation against Vladimir Jokić, the president of the municipality of Kotor, because he stopped construction in Kostanjica.
UNESCO previously recognized the case of Kostanjica as the most drastic example of an arrogant attitude towards a protected area and the inadequate response of institutions, because the sight of Perast with Our Lady of Škrpjela and St. Đorđem was permanently damaged. And that was one of the recognizable landscapes of Montenegro and Boka.
The case against Jokić was later handed over to the Basic Prosecutor's Office in Kotor, which determines whether he committed the criminal offense of negligent work in the service by not issuing permits to continue construction in Kostanjica, even though the chief planner Mladen Krekić is explicit that there should no longer be any construction in that locality. builds.
And while the prosecution is investigating Jokić for not allowing the devastation of Kostanjica to continue, there are no proceedings due to bad plans and those who allowed parts of Boka to resemble Budva more and more.
Jokić for CIN-CG assesses that it is a political process "in which it was necessary to persecute the one who protected the space and the public interest in order to preserve the interests of offshore companies backed by people from the former Montenegrin government".
He called on the SDT to initiate a process against Branimir Gvozdenović, the former minister of sustainable development and tourism, and persons connected with him, as well as offshore companies behind which people from Montenegro are hiding.
"They have enough evidence to initiate proceedings against Gvozdenović, who knowingly gave illegal consent to those plans," said the president of the Kotor municipality.
Investor AY Montenegro, whose founder is the offshore company AY Kostanjica Limited from the Channel Islands, filed a criminal complaint against Jokić and his associates in the Municipality for abuse of official position. "In the actions of certain officials of the Municipality of Kotor, the elements of the criminal act of unconscionable work in the service may be acquired," they told CIN-CG from the SDT. The Kotor Prosecutor's Office pointed out that the case is still in the investigation phase.
A prison sentence of six months to five years is provided for negligent work in the service. "Given that we acted legally in everything, I expect that the ODT will soon reject all allegations as unfounded," said Jokić.
Investor AY Montenegro submitted a request for eight more building permits for the construction of an additional nine thousand square meters in Kostanjica in the time between the declaration of the moratorium and its entry into force.
Two tourist complexes in Kostanjica, which completely devastated the surrounding environment, were realized while the head of the Kotor municipality was Marija Ćatović from the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS). Consent for the disputed plan for Kostanjica from 2009 and its changes from 2013 was given by Branimir Gvozdenović, who was then the Minister of Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection.
The then Regional Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, whose director was Ružica Ivanović, and the Ministry of Culture headed by Branislav Mićunović gave a negative opinion on the plan for Kostanjica, but well after the legal deadline, so their opinions had no force.
According to data from the Central Register of Business Entities (CRPS), it is not clear who is the real owner of the complex in Kostanjica, because he is hiding behind an offshore company.
The Constitutional Court rejected the proposal to start an evaluation of the constitutionality and legality of the DUP Kostanjica with the explanation that it cannot decide on laws that have ceased to be valid.
"The formality of the Constitutional Court does not lead to the protection of the public interest, not only in this case but also in similar cases. It is important to emphasize that the DUP Kostanjica was put out of force by the adoption of the PUP Kotor", emphasizes Jokić.
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