A group of around 50 locals from the municipalities of Nikšić, Plužine and Cetinje organized a warning protest near the Budoš tunnel in Nikšić, due to the decision of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management to ban the cutting of privately owned forests.
If they do not receive a positive response from the relevant ministry and the Forest and Hunting Management Administration within ten days, they have announced the radicalization of the protest, with the possibility of blocking roads.
"Most of us have remittances from last year that we cannot realize, and we also have cut wood in stock that we cannot use, so all that raw material in stock is going to waste. Since December last year, they have not allowed us to do this business, and for most of us it is the only source of income," said Marjan Orbović.
Novo Gardašević pointed out that they are not usurping state property, but are only engaged in logging and transporting wood from private forests.
"I neither have a pension nor do I work anywhere. I have never harvested a single tree in a state forest, only from private forests that were almost destroyed by fire. We are denied the use of our properties. We are only asking to be allowed to work. I would invite the Minister of Agriculture to come with us for a day, to see what and how we are doing. We are not usurping a state forest," Gardašević said.
And for Petar Mijatović, the aforementioned job is his only source of income.
"This has never happened like this. The Minister and the Director of the Forestry Administration receive a salary every month and they don't care what my four children and my family will live on. I live on two horses, a motorbike and a Tam. That job is my only source of income," Mijatović pointed out.
Those gathered asked the Ministry of Agriculture to allow them to work on weekends.
"We are not asking for anything from anyone, we are just asking to be allowed to work. Almost 90 percent of us make a living from it. We are also asking to be allowed to work on Saturdays and Sundays. Every month we receive bills for water and electricity, we have to register trucks, and we have no income. What can we live on," asked Radovan Andrijašević.
The locals who protested expect that the relevant ministry and the Forest Management Administration will accommodate them and allow them to do their job.
"We respect all laws and rules, so let them respect us and our work," said Vlado Gardašević.
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