The (un)solvable problem of mini-landfills

Mini-waste dumps in the Bar settlement of Šušanj are located in at least six places, most often at the beginning of side streets and near railroad crossings.

"I throw garbage there because I can't go all the way down and turn off the road, and they will pick up both here and down there," answered "Vijesti" a resident of that settlement when asked why he throws garbage on the curve of Šušanjska street under a sign that clearly pointed out that it is forbidden.

The first container is located in the parking lot between the "Forest" and "Amfora" restaurants, and is a few meters from the coast, but also a few kilometers from some houses in Šušanj. The second one is located in the Ilino settlement near the Šušanj train stop, which is relatively close to that part of the settlement but a few kilometers away from the residents of Šušanj who live above and below the first railroad crossing. The containers near the Babović buildings, near the roundabout near the upper bridge of the Željeznica River, near the restaurant "Pod lozom" are closer to the city center than most of the houses in Šušanjska naselje. Data from Google Maps prove this - from the luxurious "Berg Apartments", which are the last point recognized by Google Maps, to the first container is a 15-minute drive, 35 minutes of walking, or 4,9 kilometers.

The real last point of Šušanje is actually much further, because above the "Berg Apartments" there are several hundred more houses, all the way to the settlement of Carevići.

Independent MP in the Parliament and resident of Šušanje Radinka Ćinćur She told "Vijesta" that the problem of waste disposal in Šušanj is big, and that those who face it every day are treated as second-class citizens.

"We don't have the right to a clean environment, we pass by landfills, we step on garbage on the street as soon as we leave, garbage is still dumped next to the pumping station in Šušanj, even though the competent services fenced off that place as a precaution, some people understood it as a dumping ground waste and hangs garbage bags on the fence. We have to be aware that this will be the case until the competent services, in addition to waste disposal solutions, set certain rules that everyone will have to follow," said Ćinćur.

She works in tourism and said that she was always ashamed of the part of the street through which guests have to pass, and that she could not explain how in the 21st century someone leaves garbage on the street.

"I asked my guests or tenants not to do that, I set up a bin, I took the waste to the container, but you can hardly ask someone to do that if they pass by garbage at every step. "Foreigners are more responsible because they cannot imagine that in their country someone throws garbage on the street," she said.

According to Ćinčur, the fault lies with people who throw garbage outside the bins or containers, but, as he says, in no country in the world has this been solved only by educating citizens, which he does not dispute, but "you will always come across someone who will not be educated, who for various reasons will say I won't, out of spite to follow the rules".

As a potential solution, she cites the provision of conditions for waste disposal, prescribing rules and monitoring for the enforcement of those rules.

"The utility company partially did something in that field in the form of purchasing bins, and that is to be commended, but it is not enough. I also spoke about it at the session of the SO Bar, where the executive director of that company was elected, and he is aware of all this. I hope that he will do something in that field, I'm sure that he will have the support of all councilor clubs in this", said Ćinćur.

The problem is particularly prominent during the summer season, when tourists join the citizens of Bar in illegal waste disposal. Then such pictures are everyday.

Bozidar Kuburović from the utility company Bar told "Vijesta" that the company had been dealing with the problem of container locations in suburban areas for years.

"Since we couldn't find locations for a container for common use, we started with the 'door-to-door' system of waste removal from plastic bins with a volume of 120 liters, which our users would leave in front of their facilities at the agreed time, and our service would take over the waste," he explained. is he.

For this purpose, as he said, the Municipality and Municipalities invested in the purchase of special vehicles of small dimensions that can drive in narrow and steep streets, which the "standard drummers" that were in use until then could not.

He added that all users of their services were offered bins at a price more than half the market price, which they would pay in four monthly installments. The condition for obtaining a bin on favorable terms and the possibility of using this system, as he pointed out, is the conclusion of a contract on the provision of waste removal and deposit services, which states the rights and obligations of the user and the Municipal Services.

"To the satisfaction of a large number of inhabitants of the settlement, this system was accepted and proved to be excellent", believes Kuburović.

Pickup is done on agreed days, two or three times a week, depending on the streets, and in some streets, pickup is done daily.

"Mini landfills at intersections are the result of users' refusal to conclude a contract for waste removal through the door-to-door system." This phenomenon is particularly pronounced at the water pumping station, where residents, in addition to all prohibitions and fences, improperly dispose of their waste next to the building itself. And that in the hours after our vehicle passed by," he believes.

"After more than four years since this system came to life, the offer is still valid under the same conditions - a contract, a bucket for 18,87 euros in four installments, and we receive requests for new users every day," said Kuburović.

Non-compliance with the Decision on Communal Arrangements and the Law on Communal Services, he says, greatly complicates the work of the services because they have to hire personnel and resources to clean landfills, and they present the image of an untidy tourist settlement like Šušanj.

"We see the solution in sanctioning people who improperly dispose of waste in places that are not intended for that and concluding a contract," he believes.

The Communal Police did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" when and to what extent they punished citizens for improper disposal of waste at these locations, whether they visit them and whether they respond to citizens' reports.

According to the last population census from 2011, there are 2.630 inhabitants living in Šušanj, and more recent estimates of the population predict that this number is almost twice as large, taking into account the large number of Russians and Ukrainians who settled in the area.

The fact that Šušanj now has twice as many inhabitants confirms such a trend of growth in this settlement, which is noticeable in every census since 1961, according to the data of the Administration for Statistics.

According to the data of the Tourist Organization of Bar, since the beginning of August last year, 23.000 tourists stayed in Bar every day, some of them in Šušanj, which is a very popular tourist destination due to its peace and proximity to the beach.