Residents of Zaton, Brzava, Femića krš and surrounding settlements in the municipality of Bijelo Polje have expressed their strong opposition to the construction of the Regional Waste Management Center in Zaton (Cadastral Municipality of Crnča-Laholo) due to a number of environmental, economic and social risks.
They said this at a public hearing on the construction of a Regional Waste Management Center for several municipalities in the north, which was held in the hall of the "Braća Ribar" Elementary School, after the premises of the Zaton Local Community were too small for a large number of citizens.
In addition to representatives of the Municipality, the public hearing was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Development, Ružica Brnović and Aleksandra Jokić.
The Secretary of the local Secretariat for Rural Development, Armin Sijarić, reminded that it is a misconception that this is a landfill, but rather that it is a closed regional center according to the most modern EU standards.
"The location in the Crnča-Laholo administrative district was selected solely on the basis of expert assessments, thanks to excellent transport connections and state ownership of the land. This project represents a historic opportunity for the development of Bijelo Polje and the north: creating new jobs, with absolute priority in employing the local population, improving infrastructure, including the reconstruction of roads and a more stable electricity grid, direct investments, where the municipality will directly invest part of the center's revenues in projects proposed by the local community itself. We guarantee complete environmental protection. Construction will not begin without a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment Study and all necessary urban and technical permits. Our priority is the preservation of the natural and water resources of this region, which will remain absolutely protected," said Sijarić.
The Ecology Coordinator of the Zaton Local Community, Duško Dangubić, said that this is a modern, closed-type factory that will not destroy the environment, and that will create new jobs.
"It is particularly important that reception, selection and recycling would be carried out exclusively indoors, while the rest of the waste would be transported to the central landfill in Podgorica. All procedures, from environmental impact assessment to urban and technical conditions, must be fully compliant with the most modern environmental standards," he noted, recalling that construction would be acceptable only if each of the above procedures confirms that there are no harmful impacts on the environment.
Mujo Vreva from Pašić Polje, who is also the director of the municipal Department for Logistics, Protection and Maintenance, stated that, although the location is being planned due to advantages such as "traffic accessibility" and "existing communal infrastructure", it is not acceptable for several reasons.
"The location is located in the zone designated for the Natura 2000 ecological network, which means that it is recognized for its unique biodiversity and habitats of European importance and at the very foot of Bjelasica, which is planned as a tourist destination. There is a Muslim cemetery on part of the planned location. The location is geographically located exactly between four large and densely populated villages: Brestovik, Brzava, Femića Krš and Pašića Polje, and is subject to flooding due to higher water levels in the Lim River, especially during heavy rainfall," said Vreva, recalling that some houses in Brestovik and Brzava are only 200-300 meters away.
Although the proximity to the highway is cited as an advantage for easier access, in practice, Vreva continued, this means that hundreds of heavy garbage trucks from all northern municipalities would gravitate towards that location every day.
"This part on both sides of the Lim River is one of the most fertile areas, known for its agricultural production. Placing a regional center in the heart of an agricultural region directly threatens the production of healthy food. Even with the strictest measures, the wind blows fine waste, dust, and microplastics across the surrounding fields, while the presence of the landfill permanently damages the brand of local agricultural products," said Vreva.
He also pointed out the basinal position of the Lim Valley, which is subject to temperature inversions (retention of fog and air close to the ground).
"This means that landfill gases and unpleasant odors would linger in the settlement, making life unbearable. With the construction of such a facility, the value of houses and properties in the area would drop drastically. Placing a regional recycling center right next to the main highway creates an extremely bad visual image for all travelers, tourists and investors passing through Bijelo Polje."
Vreva concluded that the location was primarily chosen for its infrastructural convenience (state-owned land, close to the road, easy access), but that it completely ignored environmental and social parameters.
"The rule of good practice in waste management dictates that regional centers be built in peripheral, unpopulated areas with weak agricultural potential and outside river valleys, in order to minimize the impact on people, water and nature. This location is contrary to those principles," said Vreva.
Nikola Femić, who is also a municipal official, said that the location is not only environmentally questionable, but also naturally unsustainable, because in addition to being located partly on a Muslim cemetery, it is part of the floodplain of the Lim River, the lifeblood for the entire north.
"In order to build anything there, the land level would have to be artificially raised. At the first higher water level, the water would redirect all its force to the left bank, permanently destroying dozens of hectares of the only fertile land on the left bank," said Femić, adding that there is not a single hydrologist or geologist who would give a positive opinion for construction at that location.
Zoran Lješnjak from Bubanje recalled that it was the residents of Pašić Polje and Zaton who forbade Ratko Pelengić from building a pellet factory.
"If the state and the municipality adopt this solution, we will defend this location with our lives. We wonder what you are doing to the youth of Brestovik and Brzava," said Lješnjak.
He pointed to the ecological disaster in the town of Rujišta in Berane and suggested that a landfill for the north be built in that already destroyed area, instead of opening new hotspots.
"Millions of cubic meters of waste were dumped in Rujište and the best source was poisoned. The Zagradska River, which springs directly below that dump, is now full of silt and there is no life there anymore. If you have already polluted an area that cannot be remediated, work on that polluted area, not on untouched locations," said Lješnjak.
Local resident Blažo Bošković, whose property is "two miles above" the disputed location, warned of catastrophic ecological consequences for the entire north.
"We are witnessing both banks of the Lim River flooding every five to ten years, when the water forms a two-meter-high dam. If we build a coastal fortification here, the water will just go to the other side and destroy the Brzavska River, where there is indigenous trout, instead of protecting it," said Bošković.
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