The President of the Municipality of Zeta, Mihailo Asanović, said that the document with the Government's guarantees for the citizens of Botuni is just a modified version of what Podgorica Mayor Saša Mujović promised the residents of that town.
At today's press conference, Asanović said that the Government planned to dispose of hazardous waste within the premises of the Aluminum Plant (KAP).
He also said that no one wanted to listen to them, and that the Zeta Municipality had sent letters to the Government several times.
"The Municipality of Zeta submitted additional comments and expressed concerns. Such a subject was not part of the discussions with the local community. Also, no public hearing was conducted. The location of the former KAP is located near a populated area. Before the adoption of this act, we had promises that the red mud pool would be solved. What was symptomatic was that they were promising a solution for the pool, and right next to that pool, the same Government was adopting a plan to store hazardous waste," said Asanović.
He added that they "saw that the Government was giving up on this plan, that the Mayor of Podgorica modified what he initially offered."
The Government's guarantees to the residents of Botuni for the commissioning of the Wastewater Treatment Plant state that the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Development will prepare amendments to the State Waste Management Plan 2025-2029 in such a way as to delete the provisions defining that hazardous waste can be temporarily disposed of within the KAP.
The leader of the Democratic People's Party (DNP) and MP in the Parliament of Montenegro, Milan Knežević, said that the rally on Sunday showed that Zeta is united in resistance and the intention for the Capital to install a collector in Zeta with an incinerator.
He also said that the Speaker of the Assembly, Andrija Mandić, thinks the same as him about the construction of the collector in Botun.
"The rally on Sunday was the largest since 2020 and it was not organized by Mihailo Asanović, Milan Knežević, but by citizens. Mihailo Asanović and I are going through a dirty campaign that we have bewitched the citizens of Botun, and they are following us like zombies. Unfortunately, I must note that some of my coalition partners in the government, through their bots and pseudo-portals, wanted to present us as the brakes on the European path and development, but they received a response from the citizens of Zeta," said Knežević.
He also said that the document published this morning was "written in complete secrecy" without the majority of the members of the Government, and that "according to good old practice, the media saw it first, and it will only be seen by the Government today."
"I appeal to Spajić that, if this document is adopted today, negotiations should begin towards reducing tensions between the citizens of Botun and the institutions."
He also said that on behalf of Mihailo Asanović, he was sending a message that they were not the addresses for commenting on the Government's offer, but rather the citizens of Botun.
As announced by the Mina agency this morning, the government will consider at today's session the guarantees that will be given to the residents of Botuni for the commissioning of the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
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Knežević pointed out that they still have not received the contract that former Podgorica Mayor Ivan Vuković signed with the Turkish companies responsible for building the collector.
"What I also want to send a message to these excellent experts from the Environmental Protection Agency is that the red mud pool is not waste, but is classified as a technogenic mineral raw material," he pointed out.
As he added, this is defined by the Mining Law, so the Ministry of Ecology cannot manage this project, because it is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Mining and Energy.
"Once again, I would like to appeal to Prime Minister Milojko Spajić to continue communicating with the citizens of Botun," he said.
Asanović said that he had no information about who wrote the document being discussed by the Government today, but that it was "just a modified version of what Mujović promised the citizens of Botun."
"It was only last week that Mr. Mujović called the citizens of Botun. Also, we had a promise from Mr. Spajić in the Assembly that the contract would be delivered to us, but it hasn't been delivered yet," he said.
Asanović also said that the citizens of Botun are requesting that the collector be relocated, and that it would be ungrateful for him to speak on their behalf because they have been protesting for 20 years, and he has been the head of the municipality for three.
"Let the citizens freely express their opinion in the referendum," he said.
Knežević: Mandić thinks the same as me
When asked by reporters what Andrija Mandić thought about the collector in Botun, Knežević said that his coalition partner thinks the same as he does - that a lack of communication led to this and that it should have been started much earlier.
"You saw that I wrote to the Turkish ambassador because I want the problem to be resolved," he said.
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