A private citrus plantation recently appeared in the yard of the Regional Department (RO) of the "Maršal Tito" Elementary School in the village of Zoganje near Ulcinj, causing great dissatisfaction among the locals.
In a quiet and peaceful village near the city, an urgent meeting of the locals with the management of the local school was held last week. The local community sent letters to the Ministry, the school, the Education Inspectorate and the Municipality, expressing concern about the usurpation of the land. They are also demanding the removal of more than 250 lemon trees, so that sports fields for students can be built on the site, as allegedly planned.
"We ask you to provide us with information about who, how and in what way allowed citrus fruits to be planted in the schoolyard in Zoganje... The yard was planned for the construction of sports fields for the school's students, for our children... All of this leads to the closure of the school, and the closure of the school leads to the death of the village. Whose interest is this?", reads, among other things, the letter signed by the president of the Local Community. Ramazan Perović...
And it all started in September 2021, when a local BA first wrote a letter of intent to take over the costs of maintaining and cleaning the school yard and surrounding plots, and the Ministry of Education gave its consent. Donation agreement between BA and the Elementary School “Maršal Tito”, which was represented by the then acting director Ferid Hajdinag, was completed on September 30th.
"The subject of the contract is the donation of the donor BA and the recipient of the donation, the 'Maršal Tito' Elementary School, represented by the acting director Ferida Hajdinaga, for the purpose of donating and sponsoring financial resources to the Zoganje branch, which is considered an investment in the educational institution in which the recipient is engaged. Consent to the letter of intent was submitted by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports on 15. 9. 2021, as well as the letter of intent of BA on 14. 9. 2021," the contract, which "Vijesti" had access to, states.
Article 2 of the contract states that the donor agrees to sign a contract with the school, under which he will commit to investing funds for the maintenance and cleaning of the schoolyard for a longer period, up to 30 years at the most.
"The donor will record all funds invested in its books as a justified expense in accordance with the Profit Tax Act, where investments in educational institutions are recognized as an expense," reads Article 3 of the contract.
Two fields promised
In a letter of intent, which "Vijesti" had access to, BA expressed its intention to donate certain funds to the school.
"I agree to sign a contract between me and your institution, based on which I will undertake to assume the costs of maintaining and cleaning the PO schoolyard, as well as the plot around the said school, for a longer period - up to 30 years at the most. I would like to fence the entire plot around the school, which, I note, is not fenced or has a gate. I also plan to build two sports fields within the schoolyard for the needs of children attending this school, which would also be used by other children in the area," the letter states.
BA mentioned that he wanted to donate to that institution because he was a student at the school in Zoganje.
"With this, I would like to brighten up the school days of all the children who attend this school. I have no personal interest or benefit from this donation, it is a humane gesture and I want to contribute to better conditions for children's education", claimed BA
However, Perović said that of all the promised work, only a fence was built on one side of the school.
"We don't have the promised sports fields, but we did receive over 250 lemon trees. We are not against donations, but they should be in line with the public interest and the interests of students, children and the local community," Perović told Vijesti.
He claims he did not know that a donation contract had been concluded:
"I am not aware of this, nor was I informed, even though I was the president of the local community at the time. In any case, the principal of the Hajdinaga school took our side at a recent meeting with the locals."
Prinos allegedly intended to donate the proceeds to children and the school
A representative of the donor's family, who is currently abroad, also attended the meeting with the school administration. He said that he had no personal interest in the citrus plantations, but that AB intended to donate all the proceeds to the school and the children.
Local Jusuf Tufić He believes that there should be no big fuss, but that the contract should be corrected, or a new plan made.
"A new plan that everyone would agree on together, but the plantation, no matter what, needs to be removed from the schoolyard."
His neighbor Enver Selmanovic claims that, if this continues, the school will be left without students:
"There used to be more than 60 students in our branch school, which is one of the oldest in the municipality. Today, I don't know if there are 10-15. If our children don't have the same conditions as in other schools, the school in Zoganje will, like the one in Darza, be left without students. And if the school is left without students, the village will slowly be left without residents."
Selmanović says he remembers that construction of the school began in 1960, and that it welcomed its first students five years later:
"With the first school teacher Peter Mirdit, we planted acacias and pines. There are no acacias today. We had a cinema projector at school, watched movies, hung out and played in the yard, both before and after school. Today we have a private lemon plantation in front of the school. We don't need to care who planted it, how, or who allowed it, just that the yard be brought back to its intended purpose and returned to the students."
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