Environmental activists from Montenegro and surrounding countries, mountaineers, nature lovers and some residents of Brezan gathered yesterday in Potprisoj in Ethno-village Montenegro, which officially started the active fight to save the wild and free river Komarnica.
The organizers are from the Prime Minister Dritan Abazović demanded that he withdraw all planning documentation and prevent the complete destruction of the Komarnica canyon.
"Starting from the fact that Montenegro is defined by the Constitution as an ecological country, taking into account that Komarnica is a nominated EMERALD area and potentially Natura 2000, as well as that it is a Nature Monument and a Nature Park together with Dragišnica, as well as a candidate for UNESCO - World Heritage, and appreciating the richness of biodiversity and the uniqueness of the Komarnica canyon, we invite you, as the prime minister and president of the party that advocates for green policies, and respecting the fact that your party is a member of the European Greens, to withdraw all planning documents and prevent the complete destruction of the Komarnica canyon", it is written in proclamation of the Civic Initiative Save Komarnica.
They told Abazović that they would show that his publicly spoken word, on the day when Montenegro celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of the Declaration on the Ecological State, had weight.
"For the sake of the public, you said then that 'it is time to move from words to actions and all contribute to the realization of the vision of Montenegro as a real ecological state'. Therefore, keep your word and show that the green flag draped over the party you come from is not just a mask for better positions in the European Union", they said.
A four-day protest
The camp to defend against the plans of Elektroprivreda Crne Gore to build a hydroelectric power plant on Komarnica lasts until May 3, and the organizers planned to introduce visitors to the beauty of Gornji Brezan, the Plužina region and the benefits of the river.
It is planned to organize hiking tours, kayaking, forest walks, photo tours, workshops where models of river conservation, rural tourism and the value of Komarnica will be presented.
Nina Pantović from the Civic Initiative Save Komarnica told "Vijesti" that she was very satisfied with the response, because in the first hour since the camp was opened, more than 50 people came.
"Young people came, people with families, those who live in harmony with nature and who plan to work in nature, have households in the countryside and use nature in a proper, sustainable way. The most people signed up for the second day of the camp - May 1, when we will have the most meaningful day and when we will show people the treasures of Komarnica", she said.
He points out that saving Komarnica is important from several angles:
"The construction of a hydroelectric power plant is not an economic and prosperous fairy tale as it is presented, and it is important that everyone knows that. And preserving Komarnica as it is now, wild and free, is the most important for ecological reasons, because ecology is survival, not utopia".
The now former Government of Montenegro made a decision in its technical mandate to grant a thirty-year concession for the Komarnica hydroelectric plant. That decision would probably not be possible if Montenegro had a government law, and the European Commission recently told the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN - CG) that they would monitor this project, which a large part of the public considers controversial.
For HPP "Komarnica" there is technical documentation at the level of a study, which was prepared by "Elektroprojekt" from Ljubljana in 1973.
The project is being implemented according to a 30-year-old contract. Elektroprivreda Montenegro (EPCG) and Elektroprivreda Serbia (EPS) signed an agreement on joint financing of investment and technical documentation, concept project and investment program during the joint state era, back in 1992.
The costs of those jobs were in the ratio of 51 percent of EPCG and 49 percent of EPS.
The contract from 1992 was amended four times - in 2007, 2011, 2014 and the last time in 2017.
It can be seen from the last annex that the value of all the works performed and paid for up to that time amounted to 3,7 million euros.
"A final decision has not yet been made on the model and method of both realization and financing of the construction of HPP Komarnica," EPCG told CIN-CG.
The Weiss amendment requests the protection of Komarnica, Sinjajevina, Skadar Lake...
Co-president of the European Green Parties and member of the European Parliament, Thomas Weiss, recently called on Montenegro to take urgent measures to preserve protected
areas, and continue to identify the potential of Natura 2000 areas.
He submitted an amendment to the European Parliament requesting the protection of Lake Skadar, Sinjajevina, Komarnica and other important areas. In that document, he also wrote that he shares the concerns of Montenegrin citizens and civic activists who are trying to protect one of the most precious areas - the Komarnica river canyon, which might be irreversibly devastated by the construction of a hydroelectric dam, which would violate the Berne Convention.
Weiss called on the Montenegrin authorities to analyze in detail the viability of that project and determine the possibility of using the power of the sun and wind for the production of electricity.
He also reminded that even Sinjajevina is not yet protected.
The session of the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament begins on May 11, and in mid-June Weiss's amendment, as well as the entire report for Montenegro, should be at the session of the European Parliament.
The canyon has no price - the dam will not pass
The defense of Komarnica united environmental activists from Montenegro and surrounding countries, and regional stars joined in the preservation of that river.
Actors Marija Vicković and Petar Burić, but also well-known names of the music scene - Igor Lazić Niggor, Dejan Dedović Deda, Darko Rundek, Srđan Gojković Gile.
They said that the dam would not pass and invited everyone to join the defense of Komarnica.
Bonus video:
