The conceptual project of covering the salt channel in order to widen the traffic road to Cape Đerana, under the pretext of remediating the problem of waste and feces, is pushing a big ecological problem under the carpet, that is, a concrete slab, said Jovana Janjušević from the Center for the Protection and Study of Birds (CZIP).
In this way, he points out, CZIP wants to warn the Municipality of Ulcinj, as the initiator of this project, as well as the relevant Ministry, which obviously supports it, that the wastewater problem will not be solved by placing concrete slabs over the canal, because the discharges will continue to pollute the water unhindered. In this way, he adds, the contents of the sewage discharges into the saltpan canal, which this year also polluted the saltpan itself, will not be visible to the naked eye, but will continue to represent an environmental problem for both the Ulcinj saltpan and the Adriatic Sea.
With this project, Janjušević believes, the municipality has once again shown that it is not fundamentally committed to the protection of the Ulcinj Saltworks, and that the money that should be allocated urgently for the revitalization of the saltworks system is being allocated cosmetically, so that tourists are not appalled by the lack of waste management at the local level as it is currently season, as well as outside it.
On the other hand, he notes that the relevant Ministry has not faced the problems of illegally built buildings, which are known to have discharged their discharges into the saltwater canal.
"By supporting this project, they are doing the exact opposite of what they announced with the adoption of the new Law on Spatial Planning, which is the ultimate reckoning with illegal and unplanned construction. Considering the importance of the salt pan, at the national and international level, we believe that the Ministry should implement the new legal solutions , first on the territory of the municipality of Ulcinj, and in the context of fecal discharges into the salt-water channel, and therefore also to Salt-water," said Janjušević.
Nowhere in the world, she adds, is the problem of illegal discharges of fecal water and waste not solved by covering it, not even in India, which has recently adopted better standards in terms of solving the problem of waste and waste water compared to Montenegro.
"For all of the above reasons, we believe that this project will not solve the problem from an ecological point of view, but only from an aesthetic point of view, although the concrete slabs will not even aesthetically correspond to the idea of an ecological state. From the aspect of preserving the cultural heritage and identity of Ulcinj, the very first phase, which involves concreting part of of the canal, which would violate the authenticity of the calimera, which was declared an intangible cultural asset of local importance this year. In the decision of the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Assets of Montenegro, it is stated that the objects of the calimera represent a unique and authentic cultural heritage, traditional life, business and craft, and fishing "Kalimeres are a unique and authentic attraction and landmark of Ulcinj. Fishing and the kalimeres themselves are signs in the area of Ulcinj and an element of the cultural identity of the city and the communities that live in it," said Janjušević.
She reminded that a pilot project was recently presented in Ulcinj as a proposal to solve the problem of pollution of the Port Milena canal in Ulcinj, which related to effective microorganisms, an invention of the Japanese company EM Research Organization Inc. (EMRO), which very successfully remediates polluted waters, but which has not met with the interest of decision makers.
"And this example gives the impression that we prefer concrete to everything else and that we do not approach problems systematically but ad hoc and with the desire to once again push environmental problems under the carpet, in this case concrete slabs. The transparency of the project itself is also questionable because in representatives of the civil sector, who are the initiators of the protection of the Ulcinj salt pan with the associated channel, whose rehabilitation is the subject of the conceptual project, were not included in its consideration. Therefore, we invite the municipality of Ulcinj and the relevant Ministry to include the public in ecologically important projects and think carefully about the investment before eliminating in the short term problem, which should be solved from the head and not the tail, because the later, i.e. the real rehabilitation will be significantly more expensive," said Janjušević.
She also submitted photos before and after the introduction of effective microorganisms, which was presented in Ulcinj, and applied to the waters below Port Milena.
Bonus video:
