The Montenegrin Tenants' Association has expressed deep concern over what it says are the lack of transparency and discriminatory aspects of the Velje Brdo housing project. The project, which was presented as a "Montenegrin dream" for tenants, now shows serious shortcomings in the availability of information and fairness towards citizens, the association said.
"The application process remains shrouded in secrecy, and to this day there is no official information for the public on the number of registered citizens. According to the Tenants' Association, registered citizens have begun to receive invitations to conclude contracts, based on which they will be obliged to soon pay installments for apartments that do not yet exist. At the same time, there is no adopted urban plan for the project, and neither the conditions nor the guarantees for citizens who would undertake this financial obligation are clearly defined.
"We are asking serious questions: Do we have the confidence to pay for something uncertain? Do we have that much confidence in such state projects without any transparency, where everything takes place out of the public eye, and it is a state project worth over three billion euros?" the Tenants' Association said in a statement.
It is added that there is also no clear answer to the key question - from which address are citizens who have applied for the Velje Brdo project invited? Who is inviting them - is it the competent ministry or the Government? In which institution should they come to possibly sign contracts and why is the public not informed about this? Why is everything being done, it seems, "under the table"? Is the biggest fraud on the citizens of Montenegro on the horizon?
"We particularly emphasize that relying exclusively on digital applications has excluded a large number of citizens, especially the elderly and socially vulnerable, who do not have access to the internet or adequate digital skills. Also, the lack of key information on the price of a square meter, criteria for selecting users, and payment dynamics further complicates the situation.
The Tenants' Association urges the competent institutions to immediately publish all relevant information about the Velje Brdo project, include the general public in the decision-making process, and ensure fair and transparent conditions for all citizens.
"We also call on the authorities to suspend the contract award process until key planning documents are adopted and the precise terms of the project are defined. The right to a home is a fundamental human right, and we insist that all housing projects be guided by the principles of transparency, fairness and equal opportunities for all citizens of Montenegro," the statement concludes.
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