Locals of Srđevac, Pod, Jagoč, Gojević, Trubina, Sajkovac and Lozna near Bijelo Polje claim that "at the cost of their lives" they will not allow the construction of a quarry on the Strmica hill above those villages in the town of Pod.
The construction was started about two years ago by the company "Imperial", which is the owner Vojislav Smolović.
After the protest of about 50 locals, the works were stopped about two years ago, but the story of the quarry these days, according to the story of the locals, was actualized by the arrival of an unknown person from Bar, a person who introduced himself as a buyer.
The locals are against the construction of the quarry due to the potential threat to the environment, especially since there are springs 200 meters away that lead to the houses, and they are mainly engaged in agriculture, which would put the continued survival of the village into question.
Srđan Šćekić from Srđevac said that the locals will not allow the operation of the quarry at any cost, because it would destroy their lives.
"People are engaged in agriculture here, and some people have built houses and summer cottages. The environment would be completely destroyed by the construction of the quarry. In the area of Strmica, there are about 20 sources of drinking water, from where all these villages are supplied, and in addition to pollution, the works in that locality can disrupt the sources. In Srđevac alone, there are more than 30 houses that have brought water from Strmica, about 200 meters away, and we have no other power supply than from Strmica," Šćekić said.
His story was confirmed by several locals, who did not want their names mentioned in the newspaper.
In the request to stop the work, which was sent to the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism two years ago after the work had begun, it is stated that the residents of the villages of Srdjevac, Paločak, Lozna, Sajkovac, Bare, Jagoče are seeking urgent intervention in a place called Strmica where the workers "Imperiala" started work on the road breakthrough.
"A group of locals found out from the workers that the works are being carried out by "Imperial" from Bijelo Polje and with the previous approval from the Government, the Ministry of Capital Investments, i.e. that they have a concession contract for detailed geological research and exploitation of the mineral raw material of the technical-building stone of the "Poda" location. Municipality of Bijelo Polje from December 1, 12. with a validity period of 2020. 1.12", say the locals.
They point out that they have learned that the concessionaire will build a stone grinding plant at that location.
"We would like to point out that more than 200 households who are mainly engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry live permanently within a radius of one kilometer from this locality. Also, in this locality there is a natural spring called Karapotok, which supplies water to more than 60 households. We also note that the first houses, about 50 of them, are only about 300 meters away from the site as the crow flies," the locals point out.
It is common knowledge, as they state, that stone grinding produces diffuse dust that pollutes the environment and human health, as well as plant and animal life, and they point out that they have no knowledge that the concessionaire has obtained reports on the assessment of the impact on the environment, which is why they require the immediate intervention of the competent authorities. authority and the prohibition and suspension of further works on that site.
"Two or three kilometers from that location, there are already two crushing plants in the town of Bioča, where stone is exploited, and we see no purpose in building a new one that will destroy the quality of life of a large number of locals in the long term," they state.
In the response of the Directorate for Inspection Affairs on the inspection carried out on October 13, 2021, it was stated that the company "Imperial" has a concession contract for detailed geological research, which was signed with the Government.
"Given that the urban planning and construction inspection forwarded the mentioned initiative to the mining inspection, on October 12, 10, we visited the concessionaire and determined, in the presence of the subject of supervision, that at the time of the investigation and exploration area there was no mining and construction machinery, of employed persons, nor were any works performed. What is noticeable is that in the previous period, works were carried out on the access road breakthrough at that location in terms of creating conditions for taking mineral raw materials from the exploration area "Poda", in terms of geological research and the necessary approval for the execution of geological works according to the same, which continues last", it was stated in the reply of the UIP, which was signed by the mining inspector Drasko Markovic.
He notes that as part of the detailed geological research, it is also planned to carry out mining exploration works, according to the revised simplified mining project of trial exploitation work in the exploration and exploitation area "Poda", for which the concessionaire has a decision, by which he was given permission to carry out the works by the Ministry economy.
"This simplified project does not envisage the construction of a stationary crushing plant, the construction of which has not even started at that location, and it cannot be prohibited," says Marković.
Smolović: We do not sell, we have paid the fee and we abide by the law
The owner of "Imeprijala" Vojislav Smolović said that "the company is not selling the quarry at this moment, but these are insinuations of certain interest groups".
"At the public advertisement for stone exploitation concessions announced by the Government in 2020 for three locations, 'Imperial' came forward as the only bidder for the location of the quarry in Podi, which was used for these purposes in the 2023s. After fulfilling all the conditions stipulated by the law, the concession contract was signed. "Imperial" has already paid the concession fee for 52.000 of XNUMX euros, plus at least as much for the necessary studies and elaborations, even though the quarry has not yet been put into operation. Investigations and preparation of all necessary studies and projects are underway.
Opening works will begin only when all legal procedures are completed, because the company complies with all laws of the state of Montenegro. We emphasize that we will protect all attempts of tendentious interference in the legal procedure for compensation of damages against possible illegal interference", said Smolović.
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