DPS MP Aleksandra Despotović accused the Government of Montenegro of hiding from the public the occurrence of Q fever, which endangers livestock and affects the public health of citizens, and called on state and local government officials to resign.
"The least that responsible holders of power at the state and local level should do is to resign for moral reasons, because the transfer of responsibility from one instance to another incites even more suspicion among citizens that there was no timely response, and the health of citizens should be above policies. I tell the prime minister to delve into the problems of Montenegrin agriculture and take responsibility for the performance of the prime minister's office for which he was paid," said Despotović.
She said that we are witnessing moral devastation because the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management should have gone to the field in Župa Nikšićka in order to calm the public, and not to keep silent about the scandal for three days.
"Hiding the disease from the public indicates that the competent institutions were not ready to welcome the appearance of the disease, because if they were, a protocol for the care of euthanized animals would have been adopted at the local and state level. It has been shown that there is no management plan in crisis situations, but only the transfer of responsibility from one service to another the other. Is it about ignorance, irresponsibility or unprofessionalism?", asked Despotović.
She pointed out that due to the untimely reaction of the institutions, the cause of the infection was not found and that it is necessary to first locate the problem and determine how many in the structure of dead heads are imported, and how many are from own reproduction, in order to take all adequate measures.
Despotović also referred to the statement of the director of the Food Safety Administration "that the chances of infection through food are almost non-existent", saying that this statement is arbitrary, because on the website of the Institute for Public Health it is clearly stated that "unboiled milk from infected cows contains pathogens and could be responsible for some accidental diseases". She added that such claims must be supported by scientific evidence and analysis, and that it is important to test household members who were in direct contact with infected throats.
"In the end, unfortunately, one gets the impression that it is easiest to transfer the problem to agricultural producers and to give them lessons from the cabinet on what and how they should work on their farms. It even goes further and the Minister makes a statement: 'If someone thinks he is making money, he is not fair'. But this is not about earnings, but only about the payment of damages, due to the obvious failures of all institutions at the state and local level. This type of responsibility cannot be avoided," said Despotović, a professor at the Faculty of Biotechnology.
DPS Member of Parliament Sonja Milatović again asked for answers to the questions of who ordered cows infected with Q fever to be buried in Župa Nikšićka in violation of rules and procedures, and then dug up and transported to another location.
"Does the local government from Nikšić, specifically the president of the municipality, the secretary of the secretariat for communal affairs and traffic, the director of the utility company, realize what a scandal they have created because of their ignorance and their incompetence? Do they understand that because they are so irresponsible, unprofessional and ignorant, they are in danger Let the gentlemen stop running away from the questions, which are not asked by the MP, but by the citizens resignation today," said Milatović.
She added that it is scandalous that it seems that Minister Joković learned from the media that there is an epidemic of Q fever in Montenegro.
In the end, Milatović asked the Government to solve the problem of disposing of the carcasses of dead animals.
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