Vukčević: The capital city's priority is money, not the lives of Botun citizens

Slavko Vukčević, a resident of the Zeta village of Botun, said that the Capital City is not backing down from building a wastewater treatment plant at the Botun location.

"The capital is not moving away from its location in Botun. For them, money comes first, not the lives of the citizens of Botun. We exchanged arguments. We remained firm in our stance," Vukčević told reporters after a meeting of Botun residents with Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović.

He said that the Capital City is bidding at a cost that is questionable.

"We have come to the conclusion that the cost of 200 million if relocation occurs is impossible and that it is much less. Representatives of the European Commission (EC) were present, they said that they are investing in development, but they are not determining the location. They said that for them any location is an option," said Vukčević.

Asanović: We did not find a constructive solution, we wanted the European Union Delegation to influence investors to extend the deadline so that the Capital City would not lose funds

The President of the Municipality of Zeta, Mihailo Asanović, said that the municipality would like to thank Milatović "who does not have direct jurisdiction, but who tried to constructively reach a solution."

"We have not found a constructive solution and it is impossible to find one in one meeting. A referendum was held in Zeta where it was democratically stated that the citizens of Zeta do not want the plant. We do not want the state of Montenegro and the Capital City to lose funds. What we wanted was for the European Union Delegation to influence investors to extend the deadline so that the Capital City would not lose funds," Asanović told reporters.

He said that they brought in a construction expert who represented Montenegro.

"It is true that we would not receive a grant, but the grant is not our funds. Part of the funds has already been invested in sewage pipes, which again is not lost funds. The loss would be around 15 million, which would be received by the contractor from Turkey. The delegation said that they could affect the loan. The Capital received the loan and has already used it to build the Luča bridge. Tonight we heard that 35 million has already been delivered. The mayor left the meeting because the session of the Capital City Assembly is underway," said Asanović after the meeting of the residents of Botuni with the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović, which he also attended.

The meeting of the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, with the residents of Botuni was held today in the office of the President of Montenegro in Podgorica.

Podgorica Mayor Saša Mujović walked out the back exit while the meeting was still ongoing.

The meeting was also attended by the President of the Municipality of Zeta, Mihailo Asanović, the President of the Municipal Assembly (MA) of Zeta, Aleksandar Kojičić, and the representative of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Montenegro, Riccardo Seri.

The topic of the meeting was the construction of a wastewater treatment plant in Botun.

There were no representatives of the Government of Montenegro at the meeting, although they were invited.