The management of the Agency for Construction and Development of Podgorica intended to use plaster to hide some of the mistakes made during the work on the Podgorica City Theater, and the Construction Inspection of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property has also determined that the central staircase in that building was demolished in violation of regulations.
That inspection ordered the Agency to align the works with the revised project, and after a report from the former technical director Vlatko Ćipranić and writing “News”.
Before the inspection team goes to the field based on the report of the technical director, the director of the Agency shows the material obtained by the editorial team. Bajko Vucicevic shared the idea with his colleagues:
"I think we've found a solution, using plaster to hide the crooked staircase," Vučićević, among others, sent to Ćipranić in February.
That Viber message, says Ćipranić, was submitted to the Building Inspectorate as part of the report.
The job of covering it with plaster was not completed, and Vučićević never answered "Vijesti" why he proposed it and why anything would be hidden if, as he previously claimed, everything was done in accordance with professional rules and laws.
He reported irregularities, then got fired.
The now former technical director claims that he was fired "precisely because of the chaotic situation at the City Theater," his report to the inspection and his pointing out a series of illegalities that could result in damage to the capital's budget and a danger to people's lives and health.
"This is about the criminal demolition of the entire wing - the staircase, the canopy for which the management put pressure on the contractor to install it even though it was not according to the project and did not have a permit, the arrogant performance of work on a plateau on someone else's land, problematic fire-fighting installations, especially the breaches," Ćipranić told "Vijesti".
He also provided the editorial team with correspondence with Vučićević, who, he claims, threatened him that he "must not report anything to the mayor and that he does not have his approval to do so" after informing him that he would inform the authorities about the attempt to cover up the errors. Saša Mujović.
"From both a moral and professional perspective, I can say that it is monstrous that Vučićević is sending me a message that he found a 'solution' to hide the staircase with plaster, which is wrong, referring to the staircase whose wing they demolished and hid the demolition, thereby jeopardizing the structural integrity," Ćipranić said.
The Building Inspectorate responded to the editorial staff that they had carried out an inspection of the City Theatre on March 19th.
"On that occasion, it was noted that in the part of the spiral staircase, on the ground floor of the building, there is no flight of stairs as foreseen by the main design, but, according to the statements of the persons present, it was removed in order to provide additional space in the entrance hall. In accordance with the legal authorizations, the subject of supervision was ordered to harmonize the performed works with the revised main design. On the same day, the subject of supervision submitted to this body applications for changes to the revised main design, which were presented to the Construction Inspection during the inspection and the procedure is ongoing," the department told "Vijesti" Slaven Radunović.
The Agency did not answer the question of why the application for changes to the revised main design was submitted to the Building Inspection only after they were ordered to do so, but not before the staircase was demolished.
The Ministry told the editorial office in mid-March, during the investigation procedure to determine the factual situation at the City Theater, that "in the official records of the Construction Inspection, there are no submitted applications for changes to the main project that could be considered by the competent inspection."
He also warned about other projects
Ćipranić claims that the City Theater is not the only project for which the Agency's management warned that it was being carried out in violation of professional rules and regulations.
"From the position of Director of the Technical Sector and Supervision, I have identified a whole series of irregularities and illegalities in the most important projects of the Capital City, which are being implemented by the Agency. I will mention the City Theater and the Zagorič Multifunctional Center, and I note that there are more, and that they will be discussed later," claims Ćipranić.
“Vijesti” reported at the end of March that the construction site of the Multifunctional Facility in Zagorič had been deserted since the end of last year, and that the contractor, “Gradnja promet”, had warned the Agency at the beginning of the year that they needed more time, until August, due, among other things, to the fact that “the fire-fighting installation was designed together with the sanitary installation, which is not in accordance with the regulations”. The contractor had already requested and received an extension of the deadline for the construction of the multifunctional facility worth almost 3,5 million euros. The Agency responded at the time that the works, at the very beginning, did not proceed at the desired pace because the construction site had been waiting for over eight months for the connection to the Montenegrin Electricity Distribution System (CEDIS).
"My suspicions that the first delay in the works on that facility was faked were confirmed by CEDIS itself, in media releases in 'Vijesti'. Namely, CEDIS indisputably, referring to documentation, confirmed that the contractor had not completed the connection request for nine months, and they claimed that the main reason for the delay was CEDIS's delay," says Ćipranić.
According to him, "it is symptomatic that the Agency, instead of excluding the contractor due to delay, grants him an extension of the deadline under Annex 1, thus allowing him to avoid the mechanism of collecting the guarantee."
"...So that 'Gradnja Promet' also submitted a request for Annex 2, in which it explains that due to 'delays', among other things, prices have 'jumped'. I strongly opposed this, which further angered the Agency's management," emphasized Ćipranić. He said that "his career so far has been spotless," even though he has worked on the most important state projects.
"I was the chief engineer on many of the most important state projects. For seven years, I was the chief engineer for the CRBC company for the 'Princesa Ksenija' highway, the head of supervision for the 'Sozina' tunnel and the Virpazar-Sutomore access road, as well as the rehabilitation of the Mioska-Kolašin road and the tunnel on the Lutovo-Bioče railway. I am highlighting this for the part of the public that does not know me, so that they will be informed who Vučićević harassed and pressured to keep quiet about illegalities and threatened him with dismissal if he did not agree, which he did, and while I was on sick leave, he handed me my resignation letter via DHL," said Ćipranić.
The work is not finished without technical acceptance.
Ćipranić warns that despite the announcement that the City Theater will open on May 21st, and that the audience will be able to follow programs starting in the fall, the completion of the works must not be made official without technical acceptance.
"For facilities of public importance, representatives of the Building Inspection are also required to attend the technical acceptance. Technical acceptance is complex for such facilities - it involves testing all systems and, if necessary, trial operation, which means testing the technology and training the City Theater staff," said Ćipranić.
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