The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Bijelo Polje has opened a case regarding the installation of a chain link for waste collection in the town of Poda, which was interrupted on the first day after installation, and which the Public Utility Company suspects has been "alienated".
"The State Prosecutor on Duty was informed by the Police Directorate, Security Department in Bijelo Polje about the report filed by the assistant director of the company DOO Komunalno "Lim" Bijelo Polje that a chain link fence in the town of Poda, which was installed by the aforementioned company, had been stolen. Also, a report was filed by the NGO 'Euromost' via email," the ODT's response states.
Acting on the report, they further state, the prosecutor's office formed a case and ordered the police to go to the scene, collect information and other evidence, and take other actions in accordance with their authorities.
"The investigation is ongoing," the ODT's response to "Vijesti" states.
The Municipal Department said that by installing catenaries through a European project, they intended to stop floating waste, bearing in mind that out of about 40 cubic meters of garbage annually, 40 percent sinks into the riverbed, 20 percent remains on the banks, and the rest goes into other waterways.
Assistant Director of the Municipal Radenko Vujosevic said that the chainsaws were installed to reduce waste.
"Using the river's mainspring, which pushes this floating waste along the catenary, which workers empty from time to time from the river itself," said Vujošević.
The NGO "Euromost" previously claimed, as "Vijesti" wrote, that the "Lim" utility company installed a catenary in the town of Poda and that they suspect that they installed it hastily and unprofessionally, and that they themselves stopped it due to the arrival of the commission of the Ministry of European Affairs that controls the implementation of cross-border projects. Almer Mekić from "Euromost" claims that the chain link fence was only formally installed because Komunalno found out that a commission from the Ministry of European Affairs was coming in those days, and that they then reported its disappearance to the police.
"They were trying to install it to justify the European funds. In the end, as was evident because we filmed everything with drones during those days, the water level in the Lim was high, so they couldn't even install it properly. We suspect that, in order to justify the funds, they didn't even install the chainrings properly, so they reported the case to the police," claims Mekić.
Vujošević said that the claims made by "Euromost" were not true, but that their intention was to test the catenary chains to check how they functioned at certain water levels.
The procurement of chainsaws was implemented through the IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Program project between Montenegro and Serbia, through which, in cooperation with the Lim Municipal Company and the Priboj Municipal Company, waste management capacities were provided in Polimlje, from the procurement of trucks and scales, through training for employees, to a promotional film and video surveillance.
"Euromost" claims that the utilities from Priboj and Bijelo Polje purchased - the Priboj utility purchased a catamaran, and the Bijelo Polje utility purchased plastic chain links from the same company from Belgrade, which otherwise processes plastic and has no connection to water.
The utility company reiterated that everything was done according to procedure and rejected the accusations, emphasizing that the goal was to resolve an interstate environmental problem that has been going on for many years.
As was evident, because we filmed everything with drones during those days, the water level in the Lim was high, so they couldn't even install it properly. We suspect that, in order to justify the funds, they didn't even install the chainrings properly, so they then reported the case to the police. The Priboj utility and the Bijelo Polje utility bought the catamaran, and the Bijelo Polje utility bought the plastic chainrings, from the same company from Belgrade that otherwise deals with plastic processing and has no contact with water.
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