The residents of Srđevac, Poda, Bioča and Lozna have said that they will not allow the destruction of that area by opening a quarry, for which the owner of the company "Imperial" Vojislav Smolvoić received the concession.
On that occasion, today they blocked the highway Bijelo Polje - Berane in the town of Srđevac, repeating that they are asking the Government to terminate the contract with the concessionaire.
The protest lasted about an hour, instead of the announced two hours, due to traffic jams and heavy rain.
Smolović pointed out that in the past four years he obtained all the necessary consents and permits.
Juso Dervišević pointed out that the study on environmental protection has nothing to do with the real situation, and that it is not true that the nearest houses are 300 meters away, but a hundred meters away.
"We warn the authorities to pay attention and take into account this problem, the opening of quarries near settlements and houses endangers our lives," he said.
Dervišević says that they were "forced to protest by great pain and injustice", because not only are they building a quarry where there is no stone, but they want to build it "almost in the center of the village".
"If they had lowered it another 300 meters, it would have been in the center of Srđevac. And with this quarry, not only Srđevac is polluted, but also Poda, Jagoče, a part of Crnča, Štitari, and all of this is within the reach of the quarry. They are tormenting these people, and this state investor says that there is no water source, that Bemax and Pajo Perović are persuading us and that they want to sell gravel. Neither Bemax nor Pajo Perović are interested in us, only us he is interested in the health of citizens," said Dervišević.
He said that the opening of the quarry brought into question agriculture, as the main branch of that part of the municipality, and that it annually produces about 20 tons of cabbage, three to four tons of potatoes and the same amount of peppers.
"If a municipality is crossed by a businessman, a municipal president (Petar Smolović) who was voted by this people, let them say. He took what was most important to him, he took his soul, now he will also take his lungs. Until now, the citizens listened to him, but from now on I don't think that the president of the municipality has the guts to even come to our region".
Dervišević pointed out that the locals are asking Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, President of the Assembly Andrija Mandić, Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Development Damjan Ćulafić to deal with this problem urgently.
"Let them come and see, if there is a businessman who got rich and wants to get richer, at the expense of this poor people, who work and toil in the agricultural land to feed, earn and feed. In those five or six there are two to three thousand people here. We are not here politically or nationally, we are only united to say to the quarry - stop! It will certainly not be able to destroy our forests and beauty for the sake of their interests", said Dervišević.
They reminded that due to the existing quarries, all the leaves near Lješnica are dusty and that they will not allow further destruction of the area.
Esad Gugać from Srđevac, whose land borders the future quarries, said that his house is about a hundred meters away as the crow flies and that there is a danger of breaking the water supply network.
"Everything was done secretly behind our backs, there was neither a meeting of citizens, nor was a public discussion conducted according to the law, nor were we aware of any works. The data from the study regarding water sources are not accurate either, because there are three or four pools of drinking water on the site, which supply 50-60 households and more pools of drinking water," he said.
Ragip Ličina emphasized that it was a great injustice that was imposed on the citizens of those settlements.
He pointed out that a few hundred meters from this new one, there are three quarries, which for them is a form of forced eviction, because they cannot survive.
"We will not sit idly by, but will defend our beautiful Srđevac and its surroundings with all available democratic means. We cannot accept that our Municipality and the state are silent on all demands, they do not understand that we are their citizens and that we should survive and live here." said Ličina.
The residents of Srđevac will wait for the response of the representatives of the Government and the relevant ministry, after which the blockades will continue on the main road Bijelo Polje - Mojkovac and Bijelo Polje - Berane in the town of Ribarevine, as well as in front of the Government building in Podgorica.
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