Will the collector in Botun be built only with professional approval or will an agreement with the locals be awaited?

In Botun, none of this - the issue of building a wastewater treatment collector is still the number one problem. And while the profession and the mayor of Podgorica say that the key is the green light from the Environmental Protection Agency, locals, as well as the president of the Capital City Assembly, are asking for a delay until an agreement is reached. Will a compromise be possible, or will tensions in Botun, and thus in the Podgorica government, escalate?

Will the collector in Botun be built only with the approval of the profession or will an agreement with the locals be awaited? While the city's PES, the party to which Mayor Saša Mujović belongs, says that the report of the Environmental Protection Agency will be crucial for the start of the construction of the wastewater treatment system, on the other hand, the President of the Capital City Assembly says that a delay is needed until the locals and the city leadership reach an agreement.

"This issue, which is certainly complex, should be postponed until a moment when we are completely sure whether or not we have reached an agreement," said the President of the Capital City Assembly, Jelena Borovinić Bojović.

"If we get the green light from the Environmental Protection Agency, there is simply no rational, valid reason to oppose it...", said Stevan Kandić of the Europe Now Movement (PES).

Although they have different opinions, Borovinić Bojović says in "Colors of Morning" on Vijesti Television that there is no crisis in the city government. When asked if there is time to agree on whether to build in Botun or elsewhere, he replies that a checkmate has been created.

"Neither when deciding on the position, nor when negotiating about what it would look like, what would happen, was it not explained well to the citizens at all, on either side, that there was not enough discussion about it and that it resulted in a situation like this, which brings us into a kind of checkmate position, in which, it is true, we have little time. I believe and am sure that even that little time can be used well for the purpose of reaching an agreement," said Borovinić Bojović.

The Environmental Protection Agency is currently considering a new study on the environmental impact of the wastewater treatment system. The Capital City has repeatedly reiterated that there will be no such system and that the first houses are nearly 500 meters away, and the center of Botuni is almost a kilometer and a half away. That is not enough for the people of Botuni.

"All the citizens of Botun unanimously opposed the construction of these facilities at this location. They know it. And now that it's come to the finals, they want to build by force. If they want to build by force, we're here. We'll be here and let them start," said Botun resident Slavko Vukčević.

PES understands the dissatisfaction of the people of Botunja, especially considering that they have lived next to the Aluminum Plant for decades.

"This system is not a polluter, but can help to somehow resolve the pollution that is currently in the Morača River, which flows from Podgorica to that part of Montenegro," Kandić points out.

And the urgency is not only for the health of the citizens of Podgorica, Botuni and all those living along the Morača River to Lake Skadar, there is a debt that we must repay to European bankers if the project is not implemented by the end of the year. The construction of the collector is also a key condition for closing Chapter 27 in negotiations with the European Union.