Representatives of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Green Home believe that it is incomprehensible that the megalomaniacal construction of a luxury spa center with villas, a heliport and yacht moorings in the Skadar Lake National Park is called an ecological and development opportunity for local communities.
They said that, together with the announced standard of wastewater treatment with plants as devices, it insults the intelligence of the average Montenegrin citizen.
"The investor speaks flatly about environmental standards, such as the Green Globe certificate, for which we received confirmation from the competent certification company that there is no requirement or phytopurification of waste water, the solution of which was never presented in detail, especially in relation to lake conditions," they said from Green Home.
The NGO warned that there is no answer as to where the resort's waste water will end up when the water level is high, when the lake floods the plants, or how the purification will be done when the plants are in the dormant phase.
"There is no mention of waste water with detergents and heavy abrasives that comes from the hygienic maintenance of all 30 swimming pools, the spa and congress center and the helipad, which plants certainly cannot purify. This is just one of the issues in the sea of flat-out eco-standards that they convince us of," they said from Green Home.
They added that the carried out environmental impact assessment for that project represents only the mere satisfaction of an administrative form that fully meets all the wishes and intentions of the investor, while the public interest, which is reflected in the preservation of the ecological and developmental integrity of that area, is fully neglected.
"The issue was recognized by the European Parliament and is part of the Resolution of the European Parliament from March, while the Secretariat of the Berne Convention, in the appeal procedure in Strasbourg, ordered on April 11 the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism to submit an environmental impact assessment for the project, compliance with the valid Spatial Plan special purposes for NP Skadar Lake, as well as to declare the possibility of organizing an international expert mission in the disputed area during this year," Green Home announced.
They claim that, according to the information of that NGO, this has not yet happened, while the appeal procedure before the Council of Europe is still ongoing.
"How serious the investor's approach is is best reflected through the repeatedly publicly announced start of the construction of Porto Skadar Lake, at least five times during the last two years that have passed since the construction permit was issued. In the construction permit, issued at the end of March 2015, in the first phase, a reception, a restaurant, a service block, four villas and a spa center were to be built. Of that, today we only have a landscape plowed with an excavator in the form of an access road," said Green Home.
They reminded that the investor announced that the villas will not be for sale, even though the official website of the project contains information about the availability of purchasing 30 villas of 520 square meters.
"Taking into account the above, we can hardly hope to care for the public interest, implement complex environmental protection measures and preserve the beauty of the area, least of all the preservation of the national park," stated Green Home.
They announced that they believe that the disputed investment in the protected and future Natura 2000 area will continue to be the focus of interest of international organizations and European bodies, which could further threaten Montenegro's approach to the European Union.
Green Home, as they said, together with 20 other non-governmental organizations of Coalition 27, expert associates, the Association of Citizens of Virpazar and seven thousand signatures of support from citizens expressed their unequivocal concern about the possible realization of the investment, jeopardizing the public interest and discrediting the public, so the case will be monitored and processed for the next national report of Montenegro.
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