Tires are still burning at Vreli Ribničke and Ćemovsko polje, but they are also afraid of reporting

Over 150 reports of environmental devastation have been filed by citizens in the almost month and a half since the launch of the Čuvaj.me platform, almost 15 percent of the reports are related to burning tires in the Vrela Ribnička settlement and in Ćemovsko Polje in Podgorica.

That's what he told "Vijesti". Vuk Vujisic, environmental activist and one of the initiators of the creation of the Čuvaj.me platform.

Čuvaj.me is a digital platform that allows citizens and civil society organizations to report cases of environmental devastation and illegal exploitation of natural resources, and to refer such cases to the competent services.

The platform was launched on June 5. In the first month or so, as Vujisić said, 113 reports of environmental devastation were received, with illegal waste disposal being the most common, as well as the burning of tires in Ćemovsko polje and Vreli Ribničke.

Reports related to burning tires at Vreli Ribnički and Ćemovsko polje in Podgorica, according to Vujisić, in the first less than a month since the platform was put into operation, accounted for over 20 percent of all reported cases.

In the meantime, after the reaction of the authorities, he added, that number is slightly lower and, out of the total number of reports of 152, it accounts for slightly under 15 percent of cases.

"All relevant services have joined in solving this problem, but the 'Take care, let it take care of you' campaign, launched by the Delegation of the European Union with the Government of Montenegro and other partners, has recognized this problem and is working on solving it through the procurement of a shredder for processing tires and preparing conditions for permanent tire disposal. This means that this issue will be resolved as early as autumn, and until then, the services and partners in the campaign are working to prevent new cases of tire burning, because this is a problem that threatens the lives and health of citizens in a large part of Podgorica and Tuzi," said Vujisić.

In addition to burning tires, cases of illegal or semi-legal plants operating that pollute the environment and disrupt the lives of citizens have also been reported through the Čuvaj.me platform. Vujisić added that a number of cases of illegal exploitation of natural resources have also been reported to them.

During the presentation of the Čuvaj.me platform in early June, it was announced, among other things, that one of the reasons for its launch was that most citizens, including activists who are more knowledgeable, did not know how to report a certain problem.

"Most citizens did not know how to report a problem and which services were responsible for it, but even when they filed a report, they did not know in most cases what happened to it. This platform allows citizens to anonymously report a case, the administrator then takes over the case and refers it to the competent services and monitors the action taken," said Vujisić.

He added that, in the meantime, certain services have been "very proactive, while some are not advertising."

"But this will be overcome over time through direct communication with the heads of these services, but also by publishing clear statistics and informing emergency services of which services are working and which are not," says Vujisić.

Since the presentation of the platform and the submission of the first reports, which were forwarded to the authorities, he said, a large number of reports have also received responses.

By the beginning of July, eight reports had received positive responses, and the problem reported had been resolved. For some cases, Vujisić added, feedback had been received from the authorities, and action was being taken by other institutions in the same case, because, as he said, these were often cases that fell under the jurisdiction of multiple departments.

"It happens that when acting on citizens' reports, certain services do not identify irregularities or are declared incompetent. Administrators will continue to monitor such cases and publish the findings of the inspectors in charge," he said.

When asked if they were satisfied with the reaction to the platform, Vujisić said that "it can and must always be better":

"Citizens have high expectations and we must not disappoint them in that regard. We have noticed that certain services with smaller capacities are more proactive than services that may have greater capacities, both human and technical. Such phenomena will also be analyzed and we will praise the work of those that are more proactive, while we will send urgent notices to those services that are late in their actions and ask for greater proactivity."

The Čuvaj.me platform, in addition to the possibility of submitting applications, also includes a “success stories” category. Vujisić explains that within this section, stories that have changed the situation on the ground will be published:

"For example, when the issue of tire dumping and burning is permanently resolved, that story will be a success story. When those who illegally exploit natural resources in a certain area are prosecuted and environmental degradation is permanently stopped, as well as when certain areas are rehabilitated, such as the Ribnica River and the Ćemovsko polje."

He also said that the anonymity of reports is guaranteed on the platform and that any report containing complete and clear information will be forwarded to the relevant services, and that it will be required that each report be acted upon.

"I think what would motivate people the most to report are just resolved cases and to see that this platform and institutions are functioning and that things on the ground are changing."

He also says that problems like environmental devastation probably cannot be completely eradicated, but that the biggest ones can be quickly resolved with coordination.

"It is important that the state and services show strength and genuine willingness to solve citizens' problems and establish law and order, because that is precisely why they exist. It is necessary for the entire society to change its awareness of shared space and treatment of others, because the current situation is such that someone will endanger thousands of their fellow citizens for a few thousand euros and that this has become normal. We must eradicate these practices through education, but also repression," he said.