The local road planned in the center of Bar, in the settlement of Bjeliši, should cross at least seven houses where about ten families live. They claim that their houses will be demolished, but they do not agree to sell them and announce a lawsuit against the Municipality of Bar.
Among others, the family is in such a situation Jokanovic which has a family house at the site of the planned road where a single mother lives with three sons and daughters-in-law. They addressed the Municipality of Bar, the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property and the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović.
As the Jokanovićs claim, they did not receive any response from the Ministry, and the Municipality told them through unofficial channels that it was not within their jurisdiction, but the decision-making power rested with that government department, even though the local administration is the one that should buy the properties from them.
The biggest problem is that, as they claim, everyone shifts the responsibility from one to the other and it seems that every address they turn to is wrong, and that no one has the authority to solve their problem, but everyone has the authority to demolish their homes and build a road.
In the petition and letters she sent on behalf of the family Danka Jokanović writes that they are asking for help with the amendment of the Detailed Urban Plan "Topolica IV" from June 9, 2020, for which they also submitted a request to the Secretariat for Urban Planning and Spatial Planning.
"The municipality of Bar and the aforementioned Secretariat, despite the numerous petitions and complaints submitted, remain silent without any response. I am recklessly exposed to constant misleading and walking from one institution to another without a single right answer", wrote Danka Jokanović.
She stated that she built a house with the help of a loan and "paid them back with great difficulty", the same one that they intend to demolish.
Despite the possible decision that the road goes through a meadow without a facility and purpose, it was decided to go through the settlement and leave nine people in their families without a roof over their heads, as well as three more houses in the neighborhood, she wrote.
"What hurts me the most is such arrogance, cold-bloodedness and audacity to take away someone's roof over their head, to throw away someone's hard work, years of life spent creating them," she emphasized.
According to her, from the adoption of the road in 2014 until today, in addition to sending numerous complaints and participating in public discussions, regardless of the insistence that the road be moved across an empty meadow and not through a populated part, the only response they received was their determination in intentions "to abuse their position to steal our property, all with the aim of enabling the construction of buildings in the surrounding area and the destruction of our settlement to provide a way to them".
As the Jokanovićs and their neighbors told "Vijesta", they were unofficially told by the Municipality that the road will be built even if the expropriation procedure, the purchase of the land, is not completed soon. The only difference, allegedly, will be that they will not be paid for the land immediately, but after a few years, when the court proceedings they announced against the bar administration are finished.
The Municipality did not answer questions about the case, among other things, and what is the legal basis for demolishing the houses of those families before the expropriation procedure is completed.
The price is also disputed
"Vijesti" interlocutors from that settlement said that they will not allow the demolition of their houses, but will, if necessary, defend them physically.
As they said, Jokanović was offered 700 euros per square meter for the house and 251 euros per square meter of land, which they consider a bizarre and unacceptable price in the city center, and they announce that they will demand at least double in court since it is a forced sale. As an illustration of this, they state that in the decision on the house tax it is written that the average market price per square meter of their building is 1.915 euros.
"We just received a notification at our home address. Nobody even knew that he was an appraiser, nobody contacted us or came to us," said one of the Jokanović brothers.
This is not a situation, he emphasized, in which only their family found themselves, but a large part of that settlement, some families of which do not even want to sell their property, but, as they understood from the authorities, they are forced to do so.
When the Detailed Urban Plan "Topolica 4" was being adopted, he was a minor and was not informed about the whole situation, he said.
When there was an amendment to that document at the public debate, he was among the representatives of the settlement who complained about this decision, but, as he claims, there have been no changes or innovations since then.
Residents of the Bar settlement Bjeliša told "Vijesti" reporters during a tour of the field that this road had been talked about for ten years, but that the situation "heated up" when two local investors bought lots near their houses for the construction of buildings. They say that they think that the Municipality must make way for them at any cost, in this case, at the cost of their houses.
According to their opinion, everything was done non-transparently, with agreements behind closed doors, and no one included them in that process, even though it is an existential issue.
The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property told "Vijesta" that the road problem faced by the Jokanović family is a consequence of the planning decision, that is, the Detailed Urban Plan (DUP) "Topolica IV", which was adopted by the Bar Municipal Assembly.
"The competent body of the Municipality, as the holder of the preparatory work, conducted the public discussion procedure according to that planning document and the Ministry, considering the prescribed powers, had no jurisdiction in this part of the procedure of its preparation", they stated.
As they pointed out, the Government passed the Decision on Drafting Amendments to the DUP "Topolica IV".
"Appreciating the importance of that space for the further development of the urban matrix of Bar, as well as the fact that further construction in accordance with the current Plan would make it impossible to review the urban planning solution and the accompanying infrastructure through changes to the plan, the Government, at the proposal of the Ministry, passed a Decision on amending and supplementing the Decision on "Amendment of the Detailed Urban Plan "Topolica IV", which establishes a ban on construction in the entire scope of the plan, which has expired", they wrote.
They also mentioned that as part of the preparatory work, a survey was conducted regarding the drafting of the Amendments to the DUP "Topolica IV" and that the Jokanović family participated in that survey. Furthermore, the Government passed the Decision on making amendments to the Spatial-Urban Plan of the Municipality of Bar, which is in the draft stage, which will create a planning basis for ensuring sustainable development, which they said represents one of the most important challenges of spatial planning policy.
"The goal of these changes is to solve key development problems, especially for certain segments that the plan treats. As part of the drafting of the above-mentioned PUP Amendments, the organization and use of space within the scope of the Detailed Urban Plan 'Topolica IV', the drafting of which has been prolonged, will be reviewed," said the department he manages. Slaven Radunović.
They emphasized that the public hearing in relation to the Amendments to the PUP and the Amendments to the DUP has not yet been held, but that the interested public, including the Jokanović family, will be allowed to participate in this part of the development of the said plans, in accordance with the Law.
"In this regard, immediately after the overall planning survey of the area within the scope of the Detailed Urban Plan 'Topolica IV', and in the context of the decision from the Amendments to the PUP of Bar, the Ministry will call the Jokanović family and inform them about the possible planning solutions for the area to which it refers their address", they concluded.
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