The Environmental Inspection of the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Tourism Development has not yet completed the procedure under the supervision initiative regarding the works being carried out these days near Rikavac Lake, part of the "Komovi" Nature Park, which belongs to the territory of Podgorica. As "Vijesti" was unofficially told, the inspectors were on the ground yesterday.
The report was filed by locals, after the Capital City Agency for Protected Areas Management (CAPAM) announced that, among other things, a control post for rangers would be set up in the area around Rikavac Lake.
"Vijesti" recently announced that works are being carried out on Rikavac and Bukumir Lakes, as part of the "Komovi" Nature Park, and that these works, as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told the editorial staff at the time, are foreseen by the Management Plan and Program (MPP), and that the EPA has no jurisdiction in this case.
The Environmental Protection Agency then told "Vijesti" that, if other activities are being implemented in that area, it is necessary for an environmental inspection to visit the field.
The Ministry of Ecology told the editorial team yesterday that the initiative for supervision was submitted to the department's environmental inspection last week:
"Action has also been initiated in this regard. Upon completion of the inspection procedure and determination of the complete factual situation, a decision will be made on the possible taking of administrative measures and actions," the department in charge stated in a response. Damjan Ćulafić.
House 650 meters from Bukumirsko and 700 meters from Rikavacko Lake
In accordance with the Law on Nature Protection, actions, activities and operations in protected areas that are not subject to environmental impact assessment in accordance with special regulations, acceptability assessment, and that are not determined by the management plan, can be carried out based on an EPA permit, the Ministry of Ecology explained.
"The Ministry is aware that the Environmental Protection Agency, as the competent authority, issued a decision number 03-UPI-2262/4 of 25, by which, based on Article 6 of the Law on Nature Protection, it permitted the Agency for the Management of Protected Areas of the Capital City of Podgorica to carry out actions, activities and activities in the form of installing two control posts in the 'Komovi' Nature Park," they state.
As they added, the dimensions of one of the approved houses, or rather the prefabricated-demountable structure, are 4,5x2,4x2,7 meters, the structure is made of lightweight materials, clad in wood.
"And it is planned to be placed on a ready-made base near Lake Bukumirsko (cadastral plot 1453 KO Gornje Stravče), at a distance of 650 meters on a macadam road from Lake Bukumirsko and six meters from the asphalt road," they state in the response.
Ćulafić's department also said that it is planned that "water supply and electrical installations will be designed in accordance with the conditions on the ground and applicable legal regulations."
"Also, the same decision foresees, due to the lack of a sewage network, the construction of a septic tank, through which wastewater will be discharged. The Environmental Protection Agency also noted in the decision that there are two containers near the location by the road, which are regularly emptied by 'Čistoća' doo, which ensures the conditions for municipal waste management."
The decision of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ministry added, stipulates that the second house will be an assembly-dismantling facility near Rikavac Lake, 700 meters away on a macadam road from Rikavac Lake.
"And that it will be made of wood in order to blend in with the natural environment. The decision of the Environmental Protection Agency also stated that the Plan of Temporary Facilities for the Municipality of Podgorica for 2020 to 2024 provides for a facility for supervisors in the protected area in question, while a request for urban planning and technical conditions for the new Plan of Temporary Facilities for the Municipality of Podgorica, which is under development, is in the process."
The Ministry also said that the installation of two control boxes is planned to be completed during the summer of 2025.
Concreting is (not) prohibited
According to the Temporary Facilities Program for the period 2020 to 2024, facilities for protected area supervisors are prefabricated, or immobile, temporary facilities, and are intended for the needs of accommodating the protected area protection service and necessary equipment.
According to that document, their placement is planned within zones IA, I, II, III, IV, V and VI.
For the assembly-dismantling facility, which, as stated by the Ministry of Ecology, is planned in the immediate vicinity of Rikavac and Bukumir Lakes, the Program states that it "will be erected on a suitable existing surface or a leveled surface and on a purpose-built concrete slab in the dimensions of the facility, which is a maximum of 10 cm above the ground."
However, it also states that "green, or sandy beach areas, areas in the area of natural and cultural-historical areas and protected environments, old towns, cultural-historical and ambient units, as well as areas in the immediate vicinity or protected environment of immovable cultural assets cannot be concreted for the purpose of installing a temporary, prefabricated-demountable structure."
The guidelines for the Temporary Facilities Program for the period 2020 to 2024 also state that the facility should have a built-in watertight vessel or bio-purifier, a connection to water installations, "and if there is no possibility of a water connection, a supply of technical water from a specially prepared reservoir."
The Agency for the Management of Protected Areas in Podgorica has not previously responded to the editorial team's questions regarding planned and already completed works.
Sjekloća: A public toilet will also be installed
For Rikavac Lake, as stated in the one-year program, the plan is to determine a location for setting up a campsite, an open fire pit, and a barbecue.
In one response, the acting executive director Stojan Sjekloć He also said that a public toilet will be installed in the Rikavac Lake area in the coming days, and that the canal, whose excavation was questioned by the Civic Movement URA, as well as locals, is "an ordinary 'watercourse' in popular terms."
Sjekloća was elected acting executive director of the AUZP on July 1, when he replaced Jasna GajevicGajević was previously a councilor for the URA in the Capital City Assembly.
The works on the Bukumirsko and Rikavacko lakes, for which the locals contacted the inspection, were announced and started during August.
The AUZP first announced that a “traditional guvno – a place that was the center of village life and communal work” had been built on the shores of Lake Bukumir. They did not answer “Vijesti” whether the guvno had existed there before, or whether there were any written records about it.
They announced that benches, trash cans, and a control house (for rangers) have been placed around Rikavac Lake.
The statement did not mention the canal, whose excavation was also questioned by locals, and the AUZP did not mention public toilets either.
Last purchase on the CEJN website from September 2024.
The installation and equipping of two control houses on the territory of the Park is envisaged by the Management Program of the Nature Park "Komovi" for 2025. However, the program does not specify the precise location where the houses are planned to be installed.
The same part of the Program also states that a stone cistern will be installed, but, as with the control posts, it also does not specify at what location...
Sjekloća recently, reacting to allegations by the URA movement, said that the seven-meter-long dam on Lake Bukumir cost 9.900 euros and that the deal was agreed through a public tender.
On the electronic public procurement website (cejn.gov.me), when asked about AUZP procurements, the latest one refers to September 2024, when the former director concluded a contract for the installation of control boxes at the entrances to the Komovi Nature Park. The procurement, worth 11.000 euros, envisaged the installation of two such boxes.
There are no announcements about other procurements on the AUZP website, and the published Public Procurement Plan refers to 2023.
Trash cans just create more trash
The trash cans recently placed around Rikavac Lake by the AUZP only create more waste at that location, locals and weekenders say in an informal conversation for "Vijesti".
"Cows take trash out of bins, tourists leave fruit peels and food scraps," they say.
Those in the know say that it is not necessary to set up bins at such locations, that visitors should take their waste with them, and for the needs of locals and those who have weekend homes here, it is sufficient to have containers, which "Čistoća" will empty at a pace agreed upon with the manager.
Bonus video:
