As part of an initiative launched by the Coalition for the Protection of Rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Milovan Bjelica, the mayor of Sokolac, yesterday signed the Declaration “Municipalities without dams”, making Sokolac the first municipality in BiH to commit no concessions, permits or a recommendation to build a dam or hydroelectric power plant on their territory without consulting citizens.
“The development of tourism for the municipality of Sokolac is of much greater importance in relation to the construction of small hydropower plants (SHPPs). “Our municipality recently adopted a Development Strategy which defines that it is not possible to build small hydroelectric power plants in the area of the local communities of Kaljina and Knežina, because these areas abound in beautiful rivers,” said Bjelica. He pointed out that, in a situation when someone wants to sell their land, the citizens of Sokolac will have an advantage in deciding who will buy and manage the land, which is important from the aspect of preventing land abuse for projects that could endanger the environment.
Opposition to the construction of SHPPs on the rivers of this municipality began in 2019, when the Coalition of 17 local associations from this municipality organized a protest and a petition against the announcement of the construction of SHPPs on the rivers Kaljina and Biostica.
“At that time, we initiated legal steps to annul the decision of the RS Government on issuing concessions for SHPPs, in which we succeeded. The signing of the initiative is the result of the long-term efforts of our civic organizations, “said Mira Čajić, a representative of the Coalition, whose members welcomed the signing of the Declaration.
Milorad Jagodić, the mayor of Rogatica, also announced his support for the initiative “Municipalities without dams” and pointed out that this topic will be voted on at the next session of the Municipal Assembly of Rogatica.
The Declaration “Municipalities without Dams” is part of the activities jointly implemented by Arnika (Czech Republic), the Coalition for the Protection of Rivers of BiH and the Center for Environment with funding from the European Union and the Czech Republic’s Transition Promotion Program. It is based on the “Declaration on the Protection of the Rivers of the Western Balkans”, which was adopted last year at an international conference held in Sarajevo.
The Coalition for the Protection of Rivers of BiH points out that this is a successful start of an initiative aimed at long-term protection of rivers from harmful projects.
“Our goal is to stop the negative impacts of the construction of SHPPs, both on the local community and on the environment.” Due to the quick profit of several people, the quality of life of present and future generations is endangered. There is no doubt that rivers have more sustainable potential than hydroelectric power plants, such as tourism, which can be useful for the whole community, and therefore citizens should be enabled to participate in decision-making processes about the future of their rivers, “said Dragana Skenderija, coordinator of the BiH River Protection Coalition.
Zuzana Vachunova from the Czech NGO Arnika, which supports the struggle of local communities for the protection of rivers in BiH, called on other municipalities to join their citizens and stand together in defense of rivers and the right to live in a healthier environment in BiH and Europe.
All municipalities in BiH have the opportunity to join the initiative “Municipalities without dams”, and additional information is available via email: koalicijazazastiturijekabih@gmail.com