Some residents of Mušovići Rijeka, as part of a previously announced gathering and with the support of activists, walked along a village road to prevent the contractor on the project to redirect the Ljevaja River for the needs of water supply and snowmaking for mountain centers on Bjelasica from passing through to the construction site.
With the slogan "Today Ljevaja, tomorrow Bojana", the gathered reminded of the multiple harmfulness and unsustainability of the project that envisages leading the river from their village "uphill" to the mountain centers of Kolašin 1600 and Kolašin 1450.
They are once again telling the authorities to look for the necessary amounts of water on Bjelasica itself, in the immediate vicinity of ski slopes, newly built hotels and tourist complexes, instead of spending tens of millions of euros on taking water from the Ljevaja River.
"We are fully aware of the difficult situation in which the state-owned company Ski Resorts of Montenegro finds itself and the need for artificial snowmaking. We are also very well aware of the obligations of both the state and local governments towards investors of condo hotels and villas on Bjelasica. However, we claim that there are cheaper and, in terms of the environment and public interest, far better solutions to these problems. There is enough water on Bjelasica, which the state and the Municipality, for reasons unknown to us, refuse to confirm through expert hydrological testing. Among us are people who are nearing the end of their eighth decade of life and who know Bjelasica, all its springs and watercourses that never dry up. We are once again offering assistance to the authorities to show these watercourses," it was announced at today's gathering.
Those gathered recalled that the project involves leading the river uphill through pipes to Bjelasica, that it will take several years, and that there is still no technical documentation for the phase of the project that includes snowmaking infrastructure.
They say that Ljevaja is not "surplus", and that households in Mušovića Rijeka cannot be collateral damage of the controversial contracts and agreements that the local government and the Municipality concluded with investors.
"At the time when the plans for hyperconstruction on Bjelasica were drawn up, you did not think about whether the conditions existed for it. You built ski slopes, and investors hotels, without providing water or sewage. Now the entire village and one of the most beautiful rivers in the Kolašin region need to be sacrificed in order to correct mistakes and honor contracts and 'agreements'. We do not agree to be victims of policies that have neglected our basic needs in the past, and still do today. We do not agree to this because, among other things, we are sure that the citizens of Kolašin would also pay for the maintenance of the expensive system. We regret that a large number of our fellow citizens and representatives of local authorities do not understand the harmfulness of this project, not only for the environment, but also for the budget of every citizen," said the residents of the Kolašin village.
They also add that they support all fighters for the public interest and the environment, as well as local communities who understand how harmful projects are that were decided on without citizen participation.
They also claim that the project to take Ljevaja was hidden from the locals for a long time, and that they did not have the opportunity to express their opinion. They thanked environmental activists who support them and point out the harmfulness of the project to supply water and snow to mountain centers with Ljevaja waters.
The residents of Mušovića Rijeka have once again called on representatives of the relevant government departments to come and hear the arguments of those who oppose the pipe-lining of the river.
Also, as at previous gatherings, they recalled that so far they have heard from state government representatives "only disparagement of the locals, threats and evidence that the authorities know neither the village, nor the river, nor the project they are trying to implement."
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