"No one negotiated anything secretly, we were invited to talk to the Minister of Ecology, Damjan Ćulafić," said Duško Stijepović, a representative of the residents of Botuni.
He said this after yesterday's meeting with Ćulafić, at which the people of Botunja reiterated their position that they would not allow the construction of a wastewater treatment plant at the planned location.
"We believe in the capacity of the state, the institutions and the people who lead the institutions. We have not changed our position - we are asking for a change of location. But we are ready to continue talking," he said.
Video: Boris Pejović
He said that they presented the minister with information that he did not have.
"He didn't know a lot of things that had a chronology from before. That we had been here since 2006, that we had a citizen petition on a couple of occasions, which was 100 percent successful. That we only submitted some requests and instructions to institutions from the previous government and that we were never answered, that some conclusions were made without our knowledge and approval, that some international conventions were ignored that imply the consent of the local population for any type of activity or construction on a location where that population is located," said Stijepović.
He expects continued talks with the institutions.
"We believe in the state and we know that it can resolve this issue," Stijepović concluded.
The minister, Stijepović said, said that he would convey the views of the people of Botunja to the leaders of other institutions.
"We do not believe that there can be any police intervention, bearing in mind that this is a democratic state, that the Constitution guarantees us some democratic rights. We also believe in the capacity of the people who lead these security institutions, that they will be understanding of our positions and that we will reach a solution through dialogue," he told "Vijesti" when asked about the expiration of deadlines.
The deadline for starting work expires at the end of this month.
Milan Ćetković appealed to the President of the State, Jakov Milatović, Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, the Mayor of Podgorica, Saša Mujović, and the Delegation of the European Union in Podgorica to ensure a peaceful holiday for the people of Botunja.
"To enable us to be with our families for the holidays by January 15th," said Ćetković.
Video: Boris Pejović
Before the referendum, the government gave guarantees to the people of Botunja regarding the construction of the plant, and recently, the Mayor of Podgorica, Saša Mujović, offered to implement several infrastructure projects.
Both offers were rejected by Botun representatives, after their neighbors from Zeta overwhelmingly said "no" to the facility in a referendum held on December 14th.
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