The public company Morsko dobro, without the consent of the Municipality of Kotor and the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, even though these are interventions in an area that is under a special regime as part of the protected area of the cultural and natural heritage of the Bay of Kotor, began work on the improvement of a part of the coast on Peluzica, in front of the Clinical and Hospital Center in Kotor. On that occasion, the construction operation carrying out works for Morsko dobro completely devastated the old stone boat dock.
Instead of cleaning it of the previous deposits of sand and soil and repurposing it for its intended purpose (mooring and accommodating small boats), the Maritime Administration completely buried the mandrać on Peluzica with new quantities of soil taken from nearby torrential channels that had been cleaned, and then additionally filled it with a new layer of gravel.
The stone pier of the mandraca was further devastated by being poured and covered with concrete on the upper side.
The way Morsko dobro acted when "renovating the coast" on Peluzica outraged the residents of that part of Kotor, who repeatedly contacted the authorities in the Municipality and the media.
At the beginning of March, Morsko dobro signed a contract with the construction company “Incom” from Podgorica for the execution of works worth 247.188 euros including VAT on the development of the coastal plateau in Peluzia, with a deadline for completion of the works of four months from the date of the contractor's introduction into the job. However, the company “Monteskela” from Podgorica, whose main registered activity is “unspecified wholesale trade”, emerged as the direct contractor on the ground.
The Municipality of Kotor confirmed to "Vijesti" that their Secretariat for Urban Planning is not aware of the project under which Morsko dobro intervenes in the area of that municipality, that is, "renovates" the coastal plateau on Peluzica.
According to unofficial information, the Directorate for the Protection of Cultural Heritage is not even aware of the project, even though it is taking place in an area that is under a protection regime, meaning it includes old structures such as the stone mandrač on Peluzica.
Stone mandraći, as a traditional way of arranging the coast and adapting it for maritime traffic and other activities at sea, are a specific architectural heritage of the Bay of Kotor, which is considered a particularly valuable part of the local ethnographic and cultural heritage. The buried mandraći on Peluzica also had a tiradur (a ramp for pulling boats out of the sea) as well as a baškarić (stone steps for descending from the coast to the sea surface).
Morsko dobro did not respond to "Vijesti's" questions about who developed the project according to which the works are being carried out on the investment officially called "Park development of part of the plateau in front of the Kotor General Hospital", whose investor is the state-owned company, who issued the urban planning and technical conditions according to which the project was made, as well as whether approvals were obtained for it from the competent authorities of the Kotor Municipality, namely the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage.
Architect from Kotor Ana Kadijevic She told "Vijesti" that this was a completely non-transparent deal that caused great damage to the recognizable shapes of that part of the Kotor coast because, as she said, it was incomprehensible that someone would have thought to completely bury the old mandrać, or to pour concrete over its stone pier, built using the traditional method in the so-called dry border.
"None of the people in the locality, including the officials from the Secretariat for Urban Planning, have ever seen the project according to which the works are being carried out. Is it realistic to intervene in the area of our municipality without the local population and the competent services knowing anything about it? As an architect, I would really like to see the project, but I don't know how to get to it. I called JPMD, no one answers the phone, and they don't respond to emails. I would understand their behavior if it were a private company. Since it is a public company, I guess they have some responsibility towards the citizens," said Kadijević.
She asked "is it realistic to build a cheap concrete copy in the extension of the existing edge stone coastal wall?"
"Ordinary people have to ask for UT and conservation conditions, literally even for stables, and they carry out the work without ever contacting either the Secretariat for Urban Planning or the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage," says Kadijevic.
She accused Morsko Dobro of wasting the resources of local communities, intervening in the space, without asking the municipal management and local residents anything.
The manner in which the works are being carried out is also very unsatisfactory in the Škaljari Local Community, whose president is Daliborka Pavićević, on Friday, April 25, sent an initiative for urgent intervention to the Municipality of Kotor, the Chief City Architect, JP Morsko dobro and the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. In accordance with this initiative, a closed-door meeting was held on Monday morning, in which representatives of the Kotor Municipal Inspection, the Škaljari Local Community and the contractor “Incom” from Podgorica participated. On that occasion, it was confirmed that the buried mandrać would be returned to its previous state by removing the gravel and soil.
However, it remains unknown who is to blame for this devastation and the additional spending of state money that will be caused by the "excavation" of the devastated mandrač because Morsko Dobro did not respond to "Vijesti"'s questions about who is responsible for such devastation of the architectural heritage on this part of the Kotor coast, and what Morsko Dobro, whose official, basic mission is to care for the coast of Montenegro and protect valuable architectural heritage such as mandrač, will take against the contractor, or rather the supervision, in this regard. It was not answered when the buried mandrač will be restored to its original condition.
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