Work on the construction of a new small hydropower plant (SHPP) “Oštrac” on the river Ugar began two days ago despite the ban on construction of small hydropower plants that came into force after June 23, 2020, when FBiH Parliament adopted the Conclusion on the moratorium on SHPP. Thus, the investor “V.N.T” d.o.o. Jajce practically ignored this ban.
In the immediate vicinity of these works, there is also the engineer facilities of the SHPP “Korićanske stijene” whose construction is in progress. Therefore, in the case of the construction of SHPP Oštrac, a negative cumulative impact on the Ugar River, on which there are already several small hydropower plants, is imminent.
We note that the deadline expires today in which the Government of FBiH was obliged to propose legal changes that would enable a permanent ban on the construction of SHPPs in the FBiH, as well as to conduct an audit of existing SHPP construction projects. However, the implementation of works on the construction of SHPP “Oštrac”, which are obviously carried out without supervision, calls into question the consistency of the FBiH Government as well as the legality of the works of investors in SHPP “Oštrac”.
The responsible inspection body has already been informed about the mentioned works, and we expect it to urgently carry out additional supervision, and possibly order their suspension.
Considering that the mentioned works are being carried out in Dobretići, on the territory of Central Bosnia Canton, where the ruling position enabled the construction of the largest number of SHPPs in FBiH, the motives for initiating the Conclusion on the SHP moratorium remain unclear, as well as its implementation. Therefore, we call on the authorities to implement the moratorium in the coming period, ie the FBiH Parliament to protect our rivers as the law demands.
