Councilors of the Capital City Assembly on February 25 - at the session of the Capital City Assembly, they will not discuss the Strategic Development Plan of Podgorica for the coming period, which, according to the Statute of the Capital City and the Law on Local Self-Government, is one of the reasons why the first man of the city can be dismissed. Saša Mujović, claims the head of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) councilors' club for "Vijesti" Andrija Klikovac.
He specified that the current five-year strategic document expires on February 24, the day before the scheduled regular session of the Capital City Assembly, and that by then a new plan should have been drawn up and verified by the city parliament.
Klikovac assumes that this did not happen, given that the document was not placed on the agenda of the session scheduled for February 25th.
The Capital City, however, claims that "there is no precisely defined deadline that would oblige the local government "to adopt a new plan within a certain time frame."
They also say that they are working on a new Strategic Development Plan for the period from 2025 to 2030, adding that their goal is to "ensure through an open and constructive drafting process that the new plan is of high quality and in line with the development needs of the city." They emphasize that "although the current plan formally ceases to be relevant, this does not mean that the city is left without development guidelines."
According to Article 104 of the Statute of the Capital City, the Assembly may dismiss the mayor “if he fails to ensure the implementation of the strategic development plan of the Capital City and other development plans and programs, as well as strategic documents of national importance”.
There is a similar provision in the Law on Local Self-Government.
The Capital City says that the new strategic plan will be adopted within six months after the expiration of the previous one.
"In addition, the public debate on the draft of the new Law on Regional Development considered the possibility of introducing a 90-day deadline for adopting a plan, with an additional period for harmonisation, but this has not yet been adopted as regulation," they said.
They explain that due to the vote of no confidence in the local parliament in the previous period, there were no conditions for "organizing a broader public debate, nor adequate coordination meetings."
"Strategic documents of this importance should be the result of a broader consensus and reflect the vision of the city's development over the next five years. Now, when the new government has taken office, the conditions have been created for the finalization process to continue with the full participation of all relevant stakeholders... Many projects included in the current plan have not been implemented, so the city will focus on their implementation. The process of drafting a new plan has already been initiated and in the coming months we will work on its finalization through consultations with experts and the wider public. The new plan will be adopted in accordance with legal deadlines, with special emphasis on the essential development of the city, while respecting the necessary form," the Capital City said.
The opposition is demanding a reduction in water prices, more money for sports and sports clubs, the Red Cross...
As Klikovac told "Vijesti" after the meeting of the heads of the Capital City councilor clubs, the opposition will have several amendments to the Decision on the Podgorica Budget for the current year.
"We, as the opposition, will ask for more funds for the Basketball Club 'Budućnost' and the Women's Handball Club 'Budućnost', as well as for other clubs. It is unacceptable that sports clubs do not have enough funds, and that Podgorica's budget is 153 million euros. We will propose that funds be provided for the development of a project and feasibility study for the construction of another large Olympic swimming pool and a semi-open one for the citizens of Podgorica in a part of the city where there is no sports infrastructure," said Klikovac.
He also announced that opposition councilors will request "an amendment to increase funds for the Podgorica Red Cross."
"It does not have the basic resources to be able to respond to crisis situations, which is its basic role. We will submit an amendment to allocate funds to subsidize artificially assisted fertilization for couples who have these problems," Klikovac announced.
DPS councilor Stefan Ćulafić stated yesterday on the social network Iks that he would run for the agenda and decision for the next session of the Capital City Assembly that would cancel the water price increase "for a good portion of Podgorica's citizens," which resulted in water bills increasing by 41 percent.
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