The collector is overthrowing the majority in Podgorica, but not the government

The construction of a wastewater treatment plant may bring down the Podgorica government, but not the current Government of Montenegro.

This follows from the response of the President of the Democratic People's Party (DNP) Milan Knežević when asked by "Vijesti" whether he would recall ministers from his party from the government because they were not officially against the Spatial and Urban Plan of Podgorica, which envisages the construction of a plant in the Zeta settlement of Botun, but also another similar one in the part of Zeta towards Plavnica.

He, however, said that if the collector is built in Botun, he will ask the councilors to leave the local government in Podgorica.

"This whole story is to form a coalition with DPS and (By soul) Marković. There are no new elections. Let no one be alarmed if the DNP leaves power. Mr. (Sasha) Mujović "It goes back to factory settings, where it came from," claims Knežević.

He stressed that the DNP will not leave power at the state level. He said that they exercise significant influence.

"We will leave power at the state level not only because of environmental protection, but also if all our goals and principles are not realized. With the number of MPs and the power we have, we have significant influence in the Government. At this moment, I see no reason to leave power at the state level. If that happens, you will be informed in a timely manner. It will be clearly and unambiguously announced. At this moment, I am satisfied with the work of the Minister (Maje) Vukicevic and Mr. (Miluna) Zogović", he said.

President of the Municipality of Zeta Mihailo Asanović and Knežević filed criminal charges against the director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Milan Gazdić, due to alleged failures in the remediation of red mud in the pool of the Aluminum Plant (KAP).

As Asanović claims, Gazdić committed a series of criminal acts and abused his official position.

This came exactly seven days after the Agency gave the Capital City its approval for the Environmental Impact Assessment Study for the project to build a wastewater treatment system, the construction of which is planned in the KAP industrial zone, on urban plots located in the cadastral municipality of Dajbabe.

Yesterday, speaking about the complaint against Gazdić during a press conference, Asanović said that the EPA was obliged to obtain a permit for the reconstruction of the KAP red mud pool within two years.

According to his claims, Gazdić abused his official position by providing WEF Kolektor from Berane with benefits in the form of costs that the company did not bear because it did not take preventive measures.

Speaking again about the planned plant in Botun, Knežević said that in the previous period, "the incompetence of the commissions, as well as the rude behavior towards the people of Botun, could be seen."

He called ecologists "swastologists," adding that they are also "civic tycoons with vested interests who are ready to sacrifice 16.000 residents of Zeta."

"... Just to get five or ten percent of some project. They are constantly deceiving the Montenegrin public and want to exclude the influence of KAP on life in Zeta, as well as to exclude the influence of KAP with the planned wastewater treatment plant. Listening to Mayor Mujović, it turns out that the collector will be in the shape of a drone, that it will not be on the ground, that it will not be right next to the red mud pool," he said.

Responding to the question of "Vijesti" whether he and the residents of Botuni are close to Mayor Mujović's offer to rehabilitate the red mud pool, Knežević said that "he has the feeling that Mujović was sleeping next to the pool when he made that statement."

He also reminds that the remediation of the red mud basin was "the state's obligation."

Although the project for a new wastewater treatment plant in Podgorica has been discussed for more than a decade, ever since the time when the city was headed by Miomir Mugoš, has been updated in the last few months because the Podgorica authorities have warned that the cornerstone must be laid or the Capital City will pay penalties measured in hundreds of millions of euros.

Mayor Saša Mujović recently reiterated that construction of the collector in Botun must begin by the end of the year, as this is the only way for Podgorica to get a wastewater treatment system without having to pay tens of millions of euros in damages if the work does not begin...

Dragićević reports Knežević: "He is targeting activists"

Civic and environmental activist Aleksandar Dragićević filed a complaint against Knežević with the Police Directorate, stating that he feels threatened because of his statements from the protest in Botun.

In his complaint, which "Vijesti" has access to, Dragićević points out that Knežević made several unfounded qualifications and claims against him during the protest in Botun on Tuesday.

"... And he mentions 'Kosmuran' and claims that, in the event that the campaign for the construction of the plant continues, he points out that 'if he continues like this, I publicly promise him that we will come to his house with tractors of feces and pour them over him, so let him breathe if it is healthy, let him process it if it is healthy'. As I am the only environmental activist with many years of experience with long hair (pejoratively Kosmuran) and as I had made several statements in the days before this regarding the WWTP and its construction, I felt called out, which caused me a strong feeling of anxiety and panic, because this is a government representative who has several thousand political supporters and I believe that my safety is being threatened by spreading untruths, drawing a target, and calling people to come to my house, because it is coming from a government representative," the complaint states, among other things.

Dragićević told "Vijesti" that he had never been called out by a government MP for his stance on nature protection.

"If someone had told me that this would happen after 2020, I would not have believed them, because such threats did not happen before 2020. It is obvious that in Montenegro, freedom of speech is being reduced to the bare minimum when it suits the ruling MPs," said Dragićević.

He said that he would continue to do his job "even more and better".

"To warn citizens and fight for a clean and healthy Montenegro. I want Mr. Knežević to come to my address if he thinks it's necessary. Now I have no problems, because I have relocated my family, to welcome them and receive their tractors without any problems. So we'll see who comes out on top," he said.