The chapel at the cemetery in the village of Mojkovac divided the locals

The seven-meter-high building erected over the Mandić family tomb at the village cemetery in Mojkovac's Polje has been causing resentment among some residents for months, while others support it. Inspections shift responsibility, and no one asked for approval from the competent local community, nor did they inform them about the construction.

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Chapel in Polji seven meters high, Photo: Private archive
Chapel in Polji seven meters high, Photo: Private archive
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

The chapel at the village cemetery in Polji in Mojkovac, built above the family tomb of Mandić, has been causing indignation for some of the villagers for months.

From the responses from the addresses at the municipal and state level, "Vijesti" was unable to determine whether the building was built in accordance with the regulations, nor which inspection is responsible, and the local community "Polja", which according to the regulations is actually responsible for issuing approval, no one did not apply for a permit, which is why the previous management of the Ministry of Construction reported the building to the inspection.

Part of the inhabitants of Polje claims that, despite the reports, the inspectors do not react in accordance with the law to this case, which they say is "an example of wild construction and usurpation of space". Some attribute the "inaction of inspectors and competent authorities" to the fact that the chapel, which they call a church, "was built by the family of the President of the Assembly Andrije Mandić". They are also bothered, as they say, by the fact that the "Mandić facility" was built a few tens of meters from the Church of the Holy Annunciation, built in 1893, on the foundations of a church demolished by the Turks.

Another part of the villagers, however, explains that for all the works in that part of the village, the Mandics received the consent of those whose graves are nearby. They say that "it is also a shame that inspectors come to the graves of someone's parents, but that the interest of journalists in this topic is also inappropriate".

"The foundation of the chapel and the dome were made more than half a century ago by Mandić's father. So, the facility was started a long time ago and has not bothered anyone until now. The chapel was recently "closed", a walled space. I even think that the base of the foundation is now much smaller than the one that was done in the early seventies of the last century", one of the residents of Polje told "Vijesta".

Od Dragan Mandić, Andrija Mandić's brother, "Vijesti", instead of answering questions about the procedures that preceded the construction of the building, received only a brief comment.

"I ask everyone who wants cheap political points to leave out the graves of my parents and ancestors." I don't understand people who "desecrate" graves in this way. I tell them that, if they think that something is disputed, they should resolve it through the competent courts and other institutions," Mandic said.

And the state and local inspectors cannot agree on whose responsibility it is to keep track of the construction methods in rural cemeteries. As the Municipal Police in Mojkovac told "Vijesti", they received an anonymous report on January 18 of this year that a building was being built on the village cemetery in MZ Polja.

"The Municipal Police and Inspection Service went to that location on the same day and determined that a building of unknown purpose was being built, without the presence of workers and investors. Since the Service is not competent for further action, at 12.30:XNUMX on the same day, it notified the call center of the Directorate for Inspection Affairs. We do not know whether the building was erected in accordance with the regulations, nor whether the opinion of the Ministry of Health was sought. We do not know the date of the start of work on the building, nor whether the building is finished," he told "Vijesta" Mileta Sutovic, head of the Mojkovac Municipal Police and Inspection Service.

And from the urban and construction inspection of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, they say that the facility cannot be their responsibility, but the local communal inspection. They explain that the urban planning and construction inspection carried out an inspection on February 6 of this year, on the cadastral plot number 81 of KO Gornja Polje. They determined that "at the location in question, according to the way the cemetery is used, there is a building under construction made of concrete blocks above the grave."

They also say that, in accordance with Article 62 paragraph 1 of the Law on Administrative Procedure and Article 16, 20 and 44 of the Decision on the maintenance of public cemeteries, chapels and burials in the territory of the municipality of Mojkovac, they forwarded the initiative to the Municipal Inspection of the Municipality for further jurisdiction and action.

"Article 16 of the Decision on the maintenance of public cemeteries, chapels and burials in the territory of the municipality of Mojkovac) prescribes that the construction and expansion of cemeteries, as well as the construction of facilities at the cemetery (mortuaries, chapels, etc.) shall be carried out in accordance with planning documentation. The business company, that is, the Ministry of Health, which manages cemeteries and takes care of their construction, arrangement and maintenance, is obliged to construct the facilities from the paragraph in accordance with the law regulating the construction of facilities," said the urban planning and construction inspection.

They remind that Article 20 of the Decision on the maintenance of public cemeteries, chapels and burials in the territory of the municipality of Mojkovac prescribes that the approval for the construction of tombs, the installation of monuments and other tombstones in city cemeteries is issued by a business company, that is, in rural cemeteries of the MZ. According to Article 44 of the same decision, it is specified that the legal supervision over the application of the decision is performed by the local government body responsible for communal affairs.

"Inspection supervision over the implementation of that decision is performed by the communal inspector. Ensuring communal order and communal supervision over the implementation of this decision is carried out by the communal policeman", said the department headed by Slaven Radunović.

Chief Šutović, even after such a response from the Ministry, remained of the position that the facility at the cemetery in Polji cannot be the responsibility of the service he heads.

Lakić Vuković, the current president of the MZ Polja, says that none of the locals reported the existence of a chapel in the village cemetery to him as problematic. He explains that he has recently been the president of the Ministry of Health and that, as he claims, he is currently committed to solving the problem of road infrastructure in the village.

According to the former president of the Ministry of Health Radun Pejović, several locals approached him and asked to know whose permission the Mandići were building the chapel on.

"Several residents of Polje asked me for explanations and reported the construction of that building. That's why I reported the construction to the Municipal Police, because Mandići didn't contact me or inform me about these works. As far as I know, the Mandići did not receive, nor did they ask for, the consent of any local body, and according to my information, not even the parish," he explains.

According to Pejović, during the inspection, which he claimed he was present at, it was established that the object is about seven meters high.

From the Mojkovac Secretariat for Urban Planning, Housing, Communal Affairs and Traffic, even after several days of waiting, "Vijesti" did not receive answers to questions related to the construction of a chapel at the village cemetery in Polji.

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