The citizens of Foča, gathered as the Association of Citizens “Bjelava” Foča and the informal group Save the Foča Rivers, organized protests today, due to the current and planned works on the construction of a large number of SHPPs in the municipality of Foča. Pointing out, on the one hand, the destruction of natural resources, and on the other hand, the illegality of the works being performed and the lack of reaction from the competent government institutions.
Organizers and gathered citizens, whose number is limited to about 50 due to the epidemiological situation, in the presence of a significant number of media teams, expressed special concern about the works that, without concessions, outside the scope of the geological research projects, without a building permit and without a water permit, have been running for more than a month along the Velika Bjelava river.
During the protest walk, the gathered people passed by a part of the changed bed of the river Bjelava, all the way to the usurped private property of the owner Suljo Hasanbegović, on which the investor also carried out works without any permission.
The meeting also pointed out the devastating fact that, despite numerous warnings, requests and evidence of illegal works being done in the Bjelava River Basin, local institutions, competent inspectorates, the Ministry of Energy and Mining of Republika Srpska ignored the decision to stop the works. That raises suspicions about the corrupt nature of politics and private capital.
“With these protests, we demand that all works that began on the construction of SHPP be stopped immediately, and that the watercourses be returned to their original condition and the terrain be leveled, as well as the regulation of riverbeds that were disturbed by construction. We demand that the permit for detailed geological research on the rivers Bjelava and Mala Bjelava be revoked, because it was issued despite unresolved property and legal relations, and that all concession agreements for the construction of SHPPs in the Bjelava river basin and other rivers of Foca be urgently terminated for the citizens of Foča were not allowed to participate in decision-making. By signing the petition, more than 3,000 residents of Foča have publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with the construction of the planned SHPPs on the Foča rivers, “said Jovan Drakul, on behalf of the Association of Citizens” Bjelava “Foča.
We remind you that the citizens of Foča sent a request to the Ministry of Energy and Mining of Republika Srpska to urgently review the legality and revoke the Decision on approved geological research in the area, which was issued later – more than a month after the start of works and the first protests, on which it was pointed out that under the auspices of the pandemic, in a situation of emergency and public focus on the danger to human health and lives, illegal works are being carried out and nature is being destroyed. According to experts, among whom Dragan Bulajić, the owner of the company “Extreme Engineering” for the design of hydroelectric power plants, who were present at the rally, these works go significantly beyond the dimensions of geological research, ie they have nothing to do with them, but their goal quite different – to bring the citizens of Foča to the point of no going back.
“We hereby call on the official institutions to take responsibility and react to the indicated facts, and in accordance with the sent requests and evidence on the illegality of works on the rivers Bjelava, Mala and Velika Bjelava, make a decision to stop the works,” said the organizers of today’s protest. Activists from other environmental organizations in BiH also provided support – from Banja Luka, Višegrad, Fojnica, Vitez,… (Source: anitkorupcija.info)
