Instead of order, there is repression and chaos in Virpazar, claim residents and boatmen who run boat tours on Lake Skadar.
The main reason for this is the private security hired by the public company National Parks of Montenegro (NPCG) to check tickets and the traffic collapse due to unregulated parking spaces.
The NPCG, however, responds that they want to prevent abuses...
Despite numerous meetings and promises from the Skadar Lake NP administration, the local community and tourism workers in Virpazar have received nothing but increased controls and repression, the Virpazar Shipowners' Association tells "Vijesti".
They state that shipowners and locals were unpleasantly surprised when unknown individuals came to Virpazar last week, wearing blue T-shirts with the word "security" written on them in English, and informed them that they were there in front of the NPCG, to check tickets and maintain order.
"Instead of directing money towards improving working conditions and motivating their employees, National Parks are spending tens of thousands of euros on hiring private security that is not trained for surveillance tasks, nor does it understand the basic rules of tourist communication," the Association told "Vijesti".
They claim that the staff behaves arrogantly and aggressively, stops tourists in Virpazar, asks for tickets in places where they are not even required, chases visitors around the mainland, thus disturbing them and creating a sense of insecurity.
“Instead of receiving information and a welcome, guests are treated as suspects.”
According to them, some security members allow themselves to prohibit the free movement of tourists through Virpazar, thereby directly violating the rights of visitors and freedom of movement in public spaces.
They emphasize that they are not bothered by any type of control, but by the way it is carried out, especially considering that, as they say, there are already ticket-checking officers in Virpazar. The guests, the shipowners report, are also confused and have already complained about this treatment.
“Visitors are often subjected to triple ticket checks - from arrival, through the walk, to boarding the boat. Instead of caring about preserving nature, developing sustainable tourism and improving local infrastructure - it seems that the only strategy of the Skadar Lake NP is: control, charge and ignore everything else.”
The NPCG told the newspaper that due to experience in previous years, when a large number of abuses were recorded when collecting tickets, they hired an agency at the beginning of this season to work together to prevent abuses.
"The public company has hired an agency based on a contract to protect facilities and individuals. The employees of this agency are security guards who have been approved by the Police Directorate to perform physical protection duties."
The key task of security guards is to control the entrance fee to the Skadar Lake National Park. Their obligation, as explained by the NPCG, is exclusively to check whether each tourist has a valid ticket for that protected area when entering the boats. During the control, as explained, the security guard is obliged to scan the tickets and tear off the coupon.
They point out that, in accordance with the Law on the Protection of Persons and Property, control tasks can only be performed by persons who have permission from the Police Directorate.
The NPCG did not respond to questions about whether these were seasonal or permanent workers in this particular case, or how much it cost to hire additional staff.
A wish called parking
Arranged parking spaces and regulation of this issue is one of the biggest wishes in Virpazar. They have been promised new parking spaces for two years, but they warn that this is not about new ones, but about arranging existing land.
They call it the "burning problem" of the local community and claim that they have been emphasizing it for years, but are being ignored.
"The Shipowners' Association and the local population have repeatedly pointed out the lack of parking spaces, especially during the peak season. The National Park has publicly claimed that Virpazar has received new parking spaces, but the reality on the ground says otherwise. This year, there are as many as 200 fewer parking spaces available compared to last season," Virpazar shipowners told "Vijesti".
This is why, as they point out, cars are parked right next to the road, which, as they point out, causes serious traffic problems, increases the risk of accidents and further spoils the tourist experience.
“Despite the increased number of tourists, many do not manage to visit Virpazar at all. They simply have nowhere to leave their vehicle. As a result, both tourism and the local economy suffer.”
Although the NPCG company announced three new parking spaces for buses and 98 parking spaces for cars in March last year, in order to solve the long-standing problem of lack of parking, this project has not yet been implemented.
In August last year, they told "Vijesti" that during the work on the preparation and implementation of activities and the analysis of the best possible solutions, they came to the conclusion that instead of manual ramps, as was originally planned, it would be more appropriate and efficient to install electric ramps, in order to "facilitate the functioning and work of employees and arrange the space according to all standards."
At that time, they argued that it was better to create a new conceptual design and electrical installation project, after which they were obliged to obtain a new permit from the competent Environmental Protection Agency to carry out work within the protected zone of the park.
Now they say that the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property is responsible for adopting the Temporary Facilities Program 2025-2029 for the Skadar Lake NP area.
Once the Program is adopted, its implementation will begin, they said.
"The development and adoption of the Special Purpose Spatial Plan for the areas of national parks is the responsibility of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, and the JPNPCG submits the draft of this document for opinion," they replied to "Vijesti".
The public company has proposed locations for two new temporary parking lots in the Program of Temporary Facilities, but until the locations are adopted and confirmed, they say they are unable to undertake activities related to putting these spaces into operation.
Đuričić: Virpazar a victim of carelessness
Mladen Đuričić, president of the DPS Bar committee and member of the Presidency, said that Virpazar is again a victim of irresponsible behavior and carelessness on the part of the NPCG this summer season.
He said that for years they have been warning and appealing to the authorities in the National Council of Montenegro to address the entire range of problems that send a bad image from Virpazar, but apparently without any effect.
"Following the chaos with temporary facilities, public parking lots, which, after the intervention of the National Parks, are becoming fewer and fewer, compared to the latest information that could be seen in the public, which relates to the engagement of a private security agency by the National Parks in Virpazar, we express concern about the possible disruption of the tourist environment and the inconvenience experienced by visitors in Virpazar."
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