Mujović: 90 percent of the equipment for the collector has arrived, I will contact the Government if we do not reach a solution

Podgorica Mayor Saša Mujović said that 90 percent of the equipment for the collector in Botun has arrived and is in storage.

"The equipment has been purchased, the Turkish company that ordered it and is involved in the project has the right, in the event that we give up on that equipment, to file a claim and collect all of it. That equipment relates to the original location, which implies that the facility is located in Botun," Mujović explained in "Colors of Morning" on TV Vijesti.

Mujović says that he initially thought that there were lucrative reasons for the locals' opposition to the construction of the collector in Botun, that someone was "hard-charging" and might want to sell their property better, or that the reasons were political.

"But when you meet these people and face the problems the Aluminum Plant has caused them, something human must awaken in you and you must feel empathy for these people. These people say - we have made enough sacrifices and we are not ready for anything that has a per mille of potential harmful impact to be concentrated in the territory of Botun again. If they tell you that in one family, out of five members, three are suffering from cancer, I ask you where I have the right to turn a blind eye to all that and say 'everything is fine, I need it for the sake of political points'. I cannot do that."

He emphasized that a solution is being sought intensively.

Mujović said that one of the ideas proposed to the residents of Botuni was to move the treated water outlet from the existing location by a kilometer and a half to the northwest, to expand the so-called green zone and in this way to further isolate and reduce the potentially harmful impact. "I talked to the residents of Botuni, they expressed their negative opinion about it."

He says the next proposal was to relocate the part of the plant considered to have the greatest harmful impact, the sludge incineration plant, to another area. "Both options were in the territory of the Aluminium Plant industrial zone, one 1.070 meters from the current location, the other 1.800 meters. There are technical problems."

The next idea, he explained, was to relocate the entire facility to the Podgorica landfill. "Then we would need to transport that sludge every day from Botun to the landfill, some eight kilometers. That would make the whole thing even more expensive."

He explained that this is a proposal that is being sent to "Vodovod" and a Turkish company, and that "Vodovod" has a consultant, a German company, who is examining the viability of such a technical solution.

"They have given some reasons both for and against, more against than for. We still don't have a final solution, but I will not give up and will exhaust all possible technical options."

Mujović announced that, if there is no solution, he will address the Government with an analysis of everything that has been proposed and why the proposed solutions were rejected, because this is a problem that concerns not only Podgorica, but the entire country.

When asked when he could address the Government, he said: "As soon as possible, I can't say whether it will be in five or ten days, it will be very soon, because we don't have time to wait."

Regarding the KfW bank loan, he says that "we can bridge that, potentially cover that loan with a loan from another bank," that it is not controversial, but that the idea is to "create a win-win situation."

The development budget, the opposition made quality proposals

Mujović said that the adopted city budget of 153 million is development-oriented and that the conditions have been created for the implementation of capital projects. He also said that the opposition, through amendments, provided constructive and quality proposals.

"Perhaps evil tongues will say - if they are so good, why did you reject them... Most of these amendments are absolutely acceptable and hardly anyone can have anything against them, but it is just a matter of timing and our assessment of whether we should adopt them in this budget, or whether a larger number of these requests should undergo a certain amount of refinement, so that we can implement all of them at a more favorable time. The opposition has made a great contribution to the quality of this budget."

He said he wanted to have consultations with the opposition on important issues. "They will get an invitation, their advice is important to me."

He also said that without the support of the opposition, "this city is not what it should be, my broad Podgorica that has understanding for everyone."