The non-governmental organization (NGO) Euromost called on the councilors of the Municipal Assembly (MA) of Bijelo Polje, "to make a decision and invalidate all illegal decisions made by the Secretariat for Rural and Sustainable Development of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje, regarding the environmental impact assessment for projects for the exploitation of technical and construction stone".
The statement by the NGO Euromost states that the Secretariat for Rural and Sustainable Development of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje illegally took over the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency in the proceedings they initiated, even though they knew that it was not their jurisdiction, which was confirmed in its statement by the Environmental Protection Agency.
According to information obtained by this organization, there are three companies in the area of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje: "Imperijal" from Bijelo Polje, "Bemaks" from Podgorica and "Konstruktor" from Bijelo Polje.
"The aforementioned secretariat issued illegal decisions in 2023 for the company DOO 'Bemaks' from Podgorica on 27.04.2023, Ref. No. 09/4-332/23-21-10, while for the company DOO 'Konstruktor' from Bijelo Polje, it issued a decision on 27.01.2023, Ref. No. 09/4-332/22-4973/2-92," Euromost states.
The decisions at that time, the Euromost statement added, were signed by the current Bosniak Party MP in the Parliament of Montenegro, Jasmin Ćorović, which is why the organization requested the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office to designate the competent prosecutor's office, to initiate criminal proceedings, and to question Ćorović, as well as Danijela Lazarević, an employee in the Municipality of Bijelo Polje.
"State Prosecutor Danka Živković informed the NGO Euromost that this case has been submitted for further jurisdiction and decision-making to the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje," they said in a statement.
The NGO Euromost believes that the Agency's statement is irrefutable and key evidence of their claims about the lack of jurisdiction of the Secretariat for Rural and Sustainable Development of the Municipality of Bijelo Polje to conduct the environmental impact assessment procedure for the project in question.
"The aforementioned secretariat was obliged to submit the Request for a Decision on the Need for a Study, which was sent to it by the aforementioned concessionaires, to the competent public law authority (Environmental Protection Agency) without delay, and in no case to declare itself competent and act without legal basis. Article 62, paragraph 1, item 1 of the Law on Administrative Procedure (Official Gazette of Montenegro, No. 56/14, 20/15, 40/16, 37/17), stipulates that when a public law authority receives a submission for which it is not competent, it shall submit that submission without delay to the competent public law authority, and inform the party thereof," Euromost said.
As they further state, they expect that, if the prosecutors do their job, the first major indictments against eco-crime in Montenegro will be filed, which is why they say they expect the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje to work seriously on the cases and criminal reports submitted to them.
"We also remind all councilors in the Bijelo Polje Municipal Assembly who have been hearing about these illegalities for months to understand that they are the representatives of the citizens and that they must represent them, and not to remain silent, whether out of fear or something else, as they say they do not know, but they expect that this topic will finally be put on the agenda of the Bijelo Polje local parliament," Euromost said in a statement.
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