The locals of Crmnica will organize a new blockade of the Sozina tunnel on Sunday from 17:19 to XNUMX:XNUMX, protest organizers told Television News, after the Parliament of Montenegro did not adopt changes to the Law on Roads on which the locals, who live north of the toll plaza, but also who come from Bar and Sutomore to cultivate properties in Crmnica, will be exempted from paying tolls.
"We express our regret that in the Parliament of Montenegro, the proposal to amend the Law on Roads did not receive the necessary support and that the deputies missed the opportunity to show their dedicated attitude towards a community from a rural environment which throughout history has given a lot to the whole of Montenegro, and which due to the bad decisions of various actors political stage, suffers the consequences for decades, as a result of which we have stolen resources (tunnel, water sources, national park, devastation of nature during the construction of the regional water supply), from the exploitation of which our people have nothing, and face emigration, struggle for access to basic services , due to the geographical separation and distance from the administrative center, separation from all normal life needs, educational, health, sports and entertainment and others, which is additionally and multiplied due to the toll collection through the Sozina tunnel", say the organizers.
They remind that from the first day they did not want to allow politics to interfere in their story, and in view of the latest events, and the reactions and statements of various actors, they thank some who took a clear position and provided them with support, while others say: "Thank you , we don't need anything"! They add that they are confused by some of the support, but they expect that everything will be clarified very soon. They also note that, although it was stated in the media that some locals are disappointed in the DPS, they, as protest organizers, have never will negotiate with the parties on this issue, and neither the DPS nor anyone can disappoint us or deceive us, because we did not expect anything from them, and the real address are the institutions, which, apparently, not for the first time, have shown that their own people's interests are not at stake first place.
"Good luck to all the parties, and of course we will have a special relationship with those who have clearly and sincerely shown that they care about solving our problem. Our specified demands have been submitted to Monteput, as well as to the Municipality of Bar, from whom we expect an immediate reaction and from which depends on whether there will be a continuation of the tunnel blockade, and we remind you that even after several months of the request, we have still not been invited to an interview with the president of the municipality of Bar. For the sake of the general public, we ask: is there a village in Montenegro where there is a tunnel similar to the Sozina tunnel or any other, for which passage has been charged for 19 years, as is the case here?", say the organizers of the protest.
In order to avoid manipulation, they note that their demands are fully in line with European practice, as the publicly mentioned EU directive states that each member state is given the right to regulate the issue of toll collection on its own, especially when it comes to the population of rural areas.
"Also, all our protests were organized in such a way that there would be no negative impact on the economy or any other aspect of life, and we allowed the traffic to proceed unhindered on alternative sections, and the protests themselves were very short-lived, so the traffic was on the move towards the Sozina tunnel on all occasions normalized very quickly", add the organizers of the blockades.
In the end, they say that if the competent institutions, starting with the local self-government, do not urgently start doing their work and do not solve the accumulated problems in the area of Crmnica, they will be forced to solve everything themselves, which will mean a general revision of the administrative arrangement and taking over the management of everything that belongs to them. into your hands.
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