President of the Municipality of Ulcinj Omer Bajraktari he does not think that the southernmost city was in any way privileged compared to other municipalities at the time when his fellow citizen and party leader Dritan Abazovic was deputy prime minister and prime minister of the government and when the estates in Valdanos were returned to their former owners, and Solana was seized by the state and large investments were announced such as the construction of new hotels, bridges...
"I think that all municipalities were privileged during the mandate of Dritan Abazović, and I had the honor of cooperating institutionally." With hard work, we started a new stage of the city's development and the citizens felt the benefits in a very short period of time and saw the dedication for the common good", said Bajraktari in an interview with "Vijesta".
He stated that it is a short period to evaluate the cooperation with the Government so far Milojko Spajić.
"But I am sure that the current government will look very positively at the development of Ulcinj and that we will all be fully committed to it together. This year's capital budget provides good support for the infrastructural development of our municipality, especially the road infrastructure".
He emphasized "that the Municipality of Ulcinj nominated finished projects like never before and that it is the greatest merit that a certain part of them is included in the capital budget".
"Soon we will start the reconstruction of the very important city road Mujo Ulqinaku in Pinješ, the right side of Teuta Boulevard will be improved, the second boulevard in Ulcinjsko polje and the boulevard that connects the city boulevard with Teuta Boulevard will be built. There is the project of paving the streets in the Old Town, which has been in the capital budget since before, but due to technical deficiencies, the tender has not yet been announced. Soon, I think by the end of the month, a tender for the construction of the kindergarten will be announced."
Although he does not look favorably on the announcement of the coalition partner and head of the local parliament Ardijana Mavrić (Forca) on the initiation of a parliamentary investigation in connection with the realization of the construction project of the sewage network for four suburban settlements, Bajraktari claims that there are no conflicts and that the ruling coalition in that city functions in absolute harmony.
Mavrić previously announced the possibility of a parliamentary investigation regarding the problematic implementation of a project worth around five million euros. The contractor, the Italian company Spiga, was late with the deadlines, leaving behind often unpaved and unpaved streets.
"Although it is a project of the previous government and there is absolutely no fault of ours, it looks more like a deliberate attempt at political discredit than a concern for the implementation of an important infrastructure project through the institute of parliamentary investigation. I have absolutely nothing against a parliamentary investigation into any project, but my personal dignity and the dignity of my colleagues are not for political games, which they can continue within their party", said Bajraktari.
He confirmed that there are delays in the implementation of that project, both justified and unjustified.
"Our primary goal is to finish all the works by the tourist season, including the asphalting of the streets, and then the technical acceptance and testing. We will ask for the maximum responsibility of the supervisory authority that oversees all of this and the companies that will perform the testing of the sewage network. After that, the connection to the network of those settlements will be carried out by DOO Vodovod i kanalizacija".
Can you briefly summarize the past results of the local government that was formed in June 2022?
We have achieved historic results in a very short period of time. I am particularly proud of the fact that we restored citizens' trust in the institution of the municipality, reduced corruption and brought the municipality and all public companies into a stable financial situation for the first time in 30 years. The latest poll shows that 60 percent of citizens are satisfied with our work, while only 15 percent are dissatisfied.
We have also done a huge job in the field of capital investments: EUR 30 million is the current investment in communal infrastructure, water supply and sewerage network, which is perhaps the largest infrastructure project currently being implemented in Montenegro.
In this way, we create the conditions for the construction of a waste water treatment plant, the implementation of which would complete the communal infrastructure as a support for ecological Ulcinj and a foundation for an economically developed city. According to the plan, the plant will be in the hinterland of the Solana, and all the city's waste water will be accumulated in it. Through the outlet on Cape Đerana, only technical water will flow into the sea.
Why are there no announced works on the construction of the "Galeb" and "Jadran" hotels? What will happen to the ground floor arrangement of the Great Scaffolding since the project is not adapted to the conditions during a big storm and waves?
For the hotel "Galeb" they are currently working on amendments to the DUP, while for the hotel "Jadran" the project documentation is being prepared, and I think we will soon be familiar with the preliminary project. What I can confirm is that the construction of at least one elite 5-star hotel will begin this year. It will be one of the most beautiful hotels on the Montenegrin coast and will have invaluable importance for our city in every sense.
Which hotel is it?
It is the hotel "Otrant". Investors have finished everything. The construction application was completed in December, approved by the competent inspection. Now they are waiting for environmental approval from the agency. It is an investment worth 50 million euros. They have started the preparatory works, but not the main ones... As for the Great Pier, the project is as it is and I hope that my colleagues from Morski Dobr will work on the protection of that site, which also serves as an international border crossing at sea in the summer. I hope that in the coming days we will have a meeting with the representatives of JP, so that they finally finish that project for this season.
Also, we are starting the reconstruction of the Souvenir Market. By realizing that project, worth 110 thousand euros, we will enrich the tourist offer and revive the area with new contents. The space will be used for the sale of souvenirs, domestic autochthonous products, but also for small cultural, artistic and educational events. The works will be completed by the beginning of the season.
For a long time, investors from Ulcinjsko polje have been complaining about the attitude of the Municipality (former government), which spent the money collected for communal equipment for other purposes. Are you going to do something about it, pave the streets, build sidewalks and public lighting, connect buildings to the sewage network?
The projects that are currently being implemented on the water supply and sewerage network also include Ulcinjsko polje, which is very important for that part of the city. As for the road infrastructure, we have developed several projects there as well. Certainly the most significant is the boulevard Nova 5 with its access road as well as Nova 18. The realization of these projects costs over seven million euros.
This local government, which I lead, has been actively dealing with the issue of Ulcinjsko polje since the first day, and that is why we have such a large number of ready projects, because before our arrival, no project had even been started, let alone completed. I hope that by the summer we will open a tender for the construction of Nova 5 boulevard with an access road, which would certainly give new value to this zone and the entire municipality.
Is there party employment or surplus workers in the Municipality and public enterprises founded by the Municipality?
After many years in local self-government and public companies, employment is exclusively done through public advertisements, which is the most transparent type of employment. The launch of all these projects and actions that I talked about requires an adequate personnel structure, which is difficult to find on the market. In the municipality, we have largely optimized the personnel structure that can respond to current and future challenges, while in the coming period we will analyze the situation in public companies in more detail.
How many permanent employees are there in the Municipality and how many are temporary employees?
I think we have about 210 employees in total, I don't have exact information at the moment. We have opened a large number of fronts. Only two projects in communal infrastructure are worth around 30 million euros. And that requires the hiring of additional manpower. We hired some experts from the outside, as well as people from Ulicinje who are known in their field to follow it all up.
We also formed the Secretariat for Agriculture and Ecology, which started from scratch. He now has his agricultural budget of 200.000 euros. Last year, we realized it at 100.000. People are very satisfied because we are present in the villages, we talk, we help. And all of that also has to be done by someone. I am in favor of employing as many professionals as possible, because they are in continuity of work. We politicians come and go, but they stay.
How do you comment on the legalization of hundreds of cottages on the shores of Bojana?
I think that Bojana is not what she used to be and that we are all institutionally to blame for that. Spatial policy is generally bad in Montenegro and it destroys the space we have less and less. In my opinion, this is the greatest national interest at the moment, in terms of European integration and the construction of road infrastructure in the country.
Wild construction in Maslinad is becoming more and more pronounced. Can you keep it under control?
The urban construction inspection of the Ministry of Urbanism and Spatial Planning is in charge of wild construction, while we as the Municipality, i.e. communal police, perform monitoring. It is even on a voluntary basis at our initiative, so that this very valuable space can be preserved as much as possible. However, I think that so far the wild construction in Maslinad is not too pronounced. We are talking about individual cases, we had one intervention the day before yesterday, another one ten days ago... And by the act of stopping construction, we are sending a message that the area may be under additional surveillance.
Do you know how many former owners of olive groves in Valdanos have so far transferred their estates from the state to their own names?
I don't have that information, but I know that it goes slowly, especially in places where there are buildings and roads. The cadastre, I would say, generally works a little slower on that issue.
When will the Municipality establish a company that will manage the "Bajo Sekulić" Saltworks, which is its obligation, according to the contract concluded with the government a few years ago?
We sent the version of the contract to the relevant Ministry, since we should form that company together with the Government, to be co-founders. We have not yet received an answer, we are now waiting with the new ministers to see, to find a solution. We also have some funds planned in the budget of the Municipality. They are not too big, but they are there. I expect that the majority of the company will be financed from the state budget.
He does not believe that there will be special elections
Bajraktari said that he does not believe that there will be extraordinary elections in Ulcinj, after it was determined that the local parliament, instead of 33, should have 34 councilors.
"I don't believe that there will be special elections because we had regular elections where the citizens chose their representatives and everything was verified at all levels. We responded to the Government, that is, to the office in charge of citizen complaints. I have no other information".
The Ulcinj parliament currently has 33 councilors, but in the March elections of the year before last, 20.393 voters had the right to vote. Article 3 of the Law on the Election of Councilors and Members of Parliament stipulates that citizens in municipalities elect 30 councilors and one more for every five thousand voters, which means that in the March 2022 elections for the Municipal Council of Ulcinj, 34 and not 33 councilors should have been elected. In the same article, it is stated that the number of councilors is determined by the SO with a special decision no later than on the day of the announcement of the election after notification of the number of voters. The convocation of the Ulcinj parliament at the time did not adopt that decision for a bizarre reason - there was no quorum even though the ruling coalition had 30 councilors.
More than 60 offers for the football stadium
Speaking about the new football stadium in Ulcinj, Bajraktari reminded that an international tender was announced last year, where around 60 bidders from various parts of the world have applied so far.
"The tender will be closed next Wednesday and I hope that we will choose the best and highest quality offer. The tender is worth 200 thousand euros and I have to say that we thought it would be easy, but it is a very complicated project that requires a lot of know-how. We hope for the best and then we will go to work with the Association".
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