Residents of the village of Sokolac in Bijelo Polje have filed complaints with the Basic State Prosecutor's Office and the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms of Montenegro (Ombudsman) due to, as they allege, the continued ignoring of their requests to clear the road to the Madžgalje houses.
However, Komunalni Lim stated that they cleaned several roads in the area yesterday afternoon and this morning, using private machinery from locals, for which they provided video footage and photographs from the field to "Vijesti".
Locals point out that despite promises from the Lim Public Utility Company, this road is still impassable.
According to locals, the road blockade directly threatens the livelihood of two pensioners and at least five other residents of this hamlet, who are prevented from moving normally and fulfilling their basic needs.
"This action directly endangers the safety of citizens," states a letter from the locals, submitted to "Vijesti" by Miloš Brajković, who express suspicion of the selective actions of the competent services.
They point to the fact that in other parts of the Bijelo Polje municipality, communal services and road cleaning are carried out regularly, while their appeals have been ignored for months.
Due to suspicions of malpractice and discrimination, the locals are demanding that the competent prosecutor's office investigate the responsibility of the JKP "Lim" and the local government of Bijelo Polje. At the same time, they are demanding an urgent response from the Ombudsman to protect the basic human rights of the residents of Sokolac to freedom of movement and equal treatment.
They say they will not give up their demands until the road is completely cleared and passable for all vehicles.
The director of the municipal utility company "Lim", Muradif Grbović, said that the road in Stožer and the direction towards Bliškovo were cleared last night, and that teams have been clearing snow from the direction of Pisana Jele towards Stožer since this morning.
"In addition to the machinery equipped for snow removal, several people with private machinery have been hired," said Grbović.
Grbović: Mechanization of PUC "Lim" in the field day and night, teams soon in Sokolac
In his response to "Vijesti", Grbović stated that they maintained all road routes in cooperation with the Municipality and that due to heavy rainfall and the demands of the population, workers are working in two shifts.
"With this snow, there was also a sudden drop in temperature, which caused slush and icy roads. Our machinery can remove snow, but not ice, because the salt we spread only works up to a certain temperature below zero. Workers worked in two shifts to clear as many roads as possible and spread salt, thus minimizing the consequences of the precipitation. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to melt ice. We managed to clear priority roads of local importance before the melted snow froze under new precipitation, while other sections were cleared as much as conditions allowed," said Grbović.
However, there are villages that, as Grbović pointed out, the machinery could not reach, which is why they did not want to put workers and equipment at risk.
As for the specific route in Sokolac, he believes that it is a road that cannot currently be safely cleared until weather conditions improve.
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