New and old owners of olive groves and estates in Valdanos near Ulcinj are not satisfied with the expert analysis on the need for preventive protection of the "Olive Farm Ulcinj with Valdanos Bay", warning that if such an economic model is passed, as an "endemic species" they will be forced to emigrate, or simply disappear , or at best, like the natives, be an attraction for tourists.
The analysis was made by the Environmental Protection Agency, and the representatives of the owners, Avdo Dervisi i Neđo Lazović, they say that no one called them and at least asked what they thought about certain proposed solutions.
The aforementioned analysis, they remind, was done at the request of the former president of the Municipality of Ulcinj Aleksandar Dabović, and on the initiative of their fellow citizens Džemal Perović from NGO MOGUL i Zenepe Lika.
"We citizens and owners learn about the submitted request for Expert Analysis, which treats plots in private ownership, through the media, because President Dabović did not see fit to call us and hear our opinion regarding the protection of this area. "Dialogue with citizens was also absent from the NGOs who claimed that they are the true protectors of the olive groves and that there is no need to talk to the property owners, because they are a potential danger to the olive groves," stated Derviši and Lazović in their response.
They add that the Agency acted in the same way, which they approached in writing to include them in the process of creating the analysis, but, as they state, despite their positive response, consultations with the owners were absent.
"We are also surprised by the attitude of the current President of the Municipality Omer Bajraktari who supports the Expert Analysis and is grateful to the Agency, and proposes as an additional protection measure the classification of the entire Ulcinj olive grove as a Natural Monument, while he himself built apartments for rent on the said site," they claim.
Minister of Ecology, Spatial Planning and Urbanism Ana Novaković Đurović announced a few days ago that the department adopted the Amendments and Supplements to the Program of Temporary Facilities in the Maritime Property Zone 2019-2023, which officially removed the planned temporary facilities in Valdanos from that act.
"With the changes, as announced, the planned temporary facilities were removed from the area of Valdanos. These are the facilities in connection with which the previous Government made a decision at the very end of the mandate. With that decision, it was planned to set up three auto-camps, three catering facilities, two facilities for trade and services, as well as a parking lot. Now we have formally removed the basis for the construction of temporary buildings," she said.
She stated that the Ministry also supports the initiative to make Valdanos a protected area.
"The Environmental Protection Agency forwarded the Protection Study to the Municipality of Ulcinj. We believe that the Municipality will adopt it and that Valdanos will be a protected area".
The owners' representatives state that they agree with Džemal Perović, who previously told "Vijesta" that he is not optimistic when it comes to the protection project and when he says that in the archive of the Municipality of Ulcinj there are various declarations and recommendations regarding the protection of olive groves that do not give the desired results.
The suspicion is justified, as they claim, because the local administration did not protect a single corner of the city - Ulcinjsko polje, Velika plaža, Đerane, Ada and, most importantly, did nothing to protect the economic survival of citizens.
When it comes to some of the statements from the Expert Analysis, they state that it was also proposed to "preserve the golać snail, so that in the end we get a 'golać man', who lives in a house made of dry wood under a slat, next to a diminutive water and next to a field toilet".
"Isti, as a native, collects olives on the land, while tourist tours from other parts of the city come to visit him, mainly from the Štoj settlement, which has taken precedence over the narrow core of the city in terms of tourism. The tourist guides bring them to see the Tutist attraction, with a note not to approach us because we are dangerous. The Ulcinj Tourist Organization will charge for that attraction, and as a sign of gratitude for the visit, we will give away our products to tourists, directly from the field because we are not even allowed to set up a stand. The local administration will appoint us a manager because we will need it if we continue like this...", ironically, as they state, they predicted their future, in case such an analysis gets the green light from the local parliament.
If such an economic model passes, they point out, "we owners, as an endemic species, will be forced to emigrate, or we will disappear, which is less important."
"It is important that Valdanos and the olive grove will not fail because 'reputable' investors will come who will buy our property and they, as a new 'species', will be enabled to build hotels with five or more stars and other facilities for the sake of 'sustainable development'. This bombastic news supported by various mirages will have the effect of immediately changing the current attitude of public opinion by 180 degrees. Public opinion will then start calling for new investors and try to find a connection for employment in these facilities. Of course, investors will accept them with open arms and offer them the least paid jobs".
They assessed that both Expert Analysis and NGOs, which do not offer any concrete solutions in terms of protection, nor do they mention the necessary funds, nor their source, speak in support of all of the above.
"Scientific analysis protects people the least, it does not look at sustainable development whose definition is 'meeting the needs of the present generation, without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs'. The agency, the local government, and the NGOs, do not seem to understand that the catastrophic state of the olive groves, which are neglected, unmaintained trees and the area under them, collapsed dry walls, alternative fertility of olives, the poor condition of the road infrastructure to the olive groves and the weak organization of the olive growers' association, is precisely the lack of funds and economic profitability offered by this area and olive growing as an agricultural branch", assert Derviši and Lazović.
They state that "all of them do not see the long-term trend - that olives are cultivated only by temporary olive growers and by some enthusiasts who only pour excess funds obtained on the basis of renting apartments or on some other basis into the olive grove".
"They don't see that the owners of the olive trees offer their yields to the tenants in the year of birth, and it is very difficult to find them, in the ratio of 50% owner and 50% tenant, while all the financial burden of maintaining the olive trees is borne by the owner of the olive trees. The local administration also contributed to the apathy of this area with its long-term 'concern', so that in the last 30 years it invested only about 50 thousand euros in infrastructure, while it only gave moral support to the olive groves whose 2018 trees were burned in 1.200, and the goal of also do not repeat measures equal to zero".
They point out that the Ulcinj olive grove is not a gem in itself, but the result of many years of painstaking work by their ancestors who left it to them as an inheritance. They add that the fact that 99 percent of the territory under olive trees belongs to the autochthonous population speaks for itself.
"Until the local politicians look back at them even before the elections, thinking 'these are mine, they have no one else to vote for.' So, it is a fact that the existing laws and other documents that treat this area with the aim of protection exist, but also that they do not give the expected results, which means that something is not right and that something must be changed. Our opinion is that the first and crucial change would be the real involvement of the plot owners in the planning of the space, while putting their economic interests at the top of the priorities, which would ensure sustainable development, prevent wild construction and complete devastation of the space, and thus return the olive grove to its old glory", say the representatives. owner.
They state that the mechanism for preventing further devastation is in the hands of the local administration and the state, but also of them as owners.
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