Environmental activist Milorad Miki Mitrović said that the top of the Democratic Party of Socialists at the state level was responsible for approving the construction of the quarry in Bijedići, that this thread was continued at the municipal level, after the elections on August 30, 2020, but also the new government at the state level, which silently watches the destruction of the well-known archaeological site.
He said this yesterday at the protest of the residents of Bijedić, who after several days of gatherings in that village, yesterday 'moved' the blockade to the main road Bijelo Polje - Prijepolje in the town of Konatari.
The blockade of the road towards Podgorica and Belgrade lasted for half an hour, and if their demands are not met, as they announced, radicalization of the protest will follow.
The request is the same as on the first day of the protest - termination of the contract owned by the concessionaire company "Elas". Sućro Omerović signed with the Minister of Capital Investments Ervin Ibrahimović, as well as the review of the obtained permits.
As the representative of the civic initiative "Protect Bijedić" said, the only institution that has reacted so far is the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Property, which issued a decision to suspend work on the Neolithic archaeological site, which is about 6 years old.
"The contract between the company 'Elas' and the Ministry of Capital Investments envisages the destruction of everything to which citizens of Montenegro have the right guaranteed by the Constitution of Montenegro, namely the right to healthy air, water, nature and a normal life.
With this protest, we are protecting Bijediće, Voljavac, Podbreže, Gubavac, Oluja, as well as other places in the Bistrica area. We from Bijedić and Bistrica also know that we work with a quarry, but we do not want to destroy nature because we have been living with it for centuries," said Tvrdišić.
He pointed out that they addressed all competent institutions, which are involved in granting the concession to the company "Elas", asking them to reconsider their decisions.
"We demand that the concession contract be terminated and all potential illegalities that led to the signing of the contract be investigated.
We ask that the concessionaire repair everything that was destroyed and damaged during the excavation and transportation of stone by trucks, starting with the fence on the bridge over Bistrica, the bridge on the Voljavacka river, the asphalt that was damaged in several places, as well as the macadam road to Bijedić, which after the works started in a catastrophic state", said Tvrdišić.
Mladen Grebović said that these are hasty decisions of competent institutions, which should be investigated.
"The residents of Bijedića, Podbrežja, Pećarske, Bjelica will defend the beautiful area with their lives and will not allow the removal of technical stone and the construction of any stone grinding plants, because their lives would be endangered," said Grebović.
Quarries spring up like mushrooms after the rain
The locals' protest was supported by several environmental organizations, which, as they point out, want to draw the attention of the state and decision-makers to the fact that such actions are not isolated and that in Montenegro quarries are springing up like mushrooms after the rain, and nobody turns their heads.
Milorad Mitrović said that the company "Elas" received an incredible 1.743.416 square meters of concession space on which it should work.
"We visited the site, found baked clay and the remains of clay objects in a length of 300 meters. It is about two companies that have been known here for a long period of time for devastating the riverbed of Lima, about a company that removed an outdated technology plant in Zaimovića livada and moved it to Potkrajce, got all the papers for work, for installing that technology and works without necessary permits. She also received an essay that went through that procedure. In question are two family companies "Matador" and "Elas", which behave in an extremely brazen and rude manner towards state wealth, which belongs to the people of Montenegro", said Mitrović, adding that there are many other quarries that do not respect the law. .
Resident of Voljavac and former member of MZ Gubavac Admir Camic he told "Vijesti" that in addition to the fact that it is unbelievable that a quarry is being built near houses, springs, and an archaeological site, it is also being built near a water supply system - catchment and pool that supplies the Gubavac Municipality.
"That's why we, the residents of Voljavac, which belongs to the same MZ, are against the construction of the quarry. The road infrastructure, two bridges, the asphalt road that we have been waiting for decades have been called into question by the operation of that quarry," said Camić.
He pointed out that he was surprised by the silence of the Gubavac Local Community, whose session he will request in order to get a position.
"We believe that the construction could not have started without the written consent of someone from the local community, without discussion and getting to know the citizens of the Gubavac Municipality.
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