"Antivari" and NGO "Maslinijada": To preserve the thousand-year-old olive grove in the center of Bar

For a long time, the public has been talking about the fact that with the implementation of the detailed urban plan Topolica 3, the thousand-year-old olive grove in the very center of Bar will be threatened, so with that in mind, we appeal to the decision-makers and authorities to review the existing urban planning solutions and prevent the devastation and removal of this unique natural monuments.

This was announced by Bar olive growers from the olive growing association "Antivari" and the NGO "Maslinijada". They added that they fully support the initiative of the former president of the Municipality of Bar, Čed Ratković, and other prominent public officials for the preservation of this natural and cultural asset.

"We are also familiar with the opinion of a team of experts from the Council for Monitoring and Analysis of Planning Documentation of Bar, who unequivocally indicated that these are "potential monuments of nature" and that a parliamentary decision on the protection of these trees should be initiated. We consider the fact that, during the procedures implemented in the adoption of this planning document, the competent Ministry of Ecology, Urbanism and Spatial Planning did not take into account the opinion of relevant and competent experts," they said.

They consider it devastating that the authorities in the Government and decision-making places did not appreciate the fact that the thousand-year-old olive grove is more significant, as a cultural, public and natural asset, than any urban building and in the interest of any investor.

"That's why we send this public appeal to the decision-makers to re-examine this urban solution, and when it comes to the Ministry or the local self-government, that each of them, within their competence, should make sure that the millenium olive grove in the center of Bar is preserved. We remind you of the devastating fact that under the onslaught of the so-called urbanization irretrievably and completely destroyed thousands of olive trees of incalculable age, value and importance, both in the strict center of today's Bar, as well as on its outskirts, in Stari Bar, Sustaš, Kuril, Zaljevo, Dobra Voda and other places", said Bar olive growers.

They also recalled the destruction of an exemplary hundred-year-old olive grove in the center of Bar, twenty years ago, when the local administration, despite the appeals of olive growers and other public figures, backed down in front of the interests of builders and allowed its destruction.

The alleged attempt to relocate that olive grove, as they stated, was only for the purpose of deceiving the public and to justify pandering to the interests of unscrupulous investors. They believe that now is the high time to review such affairs, to determine the eventual responsibility of those responsible for such inheritance over natural and cultural assets.

"At the same time, we think it is high time that the state and its institutions control and sanction the destruction or devastation of any old olive grove. We also remind you of the devastating fact that the biological survival of Stara maslina on Mirovica has been called into question by the inappropriate attitude and incompetence of the authorities", they emphasized.

When it comes to the current thousand-year-old olive grove within the DUP Topolica III, their appeal was sent to the authorities in the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Municipality of Bar. They demand that everyone within their legal jurisdiction reacts urgently and reviews the current planning document, and by initiating certain procedures, does not allow the endangerment, devastation or attempted displacement of this monument of nature and culture in relation to the millenium olive grove of inestimable value.

"We believe that it is possible to find a way to buy and protect the existing plot, and to plant solitaires and other concrete and steel structures in another place. The olive grove, planted a thousand or more years ago, deserves to be preserved and to serve agricultural, tourist and cultural purposes, as a kind of natural monument that is an exceptional cultural asset, and can also be a first-class tourist attraction of Bar, a city that has nothing older and more beautiful than show in its urban center", concluded the representatives of the Association of Olive Growers "Antivari Bar" and the NGO "Maslinijada" from Stari Bar.