WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
Beach Tenants' Associations, the Ada Bojana Restaurant Association, the NGO "Ada Bojana" and representatives of the local community organized a protest in Ulcinj today to express their dissatisfaction with the tender procedure for the lease of beaches, which they say is "non-transparent, unfair and discriminatory".
“By reducing the points for old tenants to a minimum and increasing the starting prices by 300 percent, we have been discriminated against in the worst possible way. Our investments over the years have not been recognized, as we have transformed a wasteland and undeveloped area into the best tourist product that our municipality can offer. The non-transparent procedure for collecting bids and extending the deadline for submitting documents by a week favored the foreign bidder, not us as old and responsible tenants. On the day of the bid opening, we learned that it was a foreign bidder who had applied for as many as 19 beaches and managed to win nine as the best bidder at the offered price. Today, we have gathered to raise our voices against such unilateral and wrong decisions. Ulcinj is not for sale,” said the representative of the beach tenants and the president of the MZ Štoj, Albert Kastrati.
He also referred to the announcements about the development of a project on Velika Plaza and its lease for 99 years.
“From this place, we are saying not only to Prime Minister Spajić, but also to all future prime ministers and ministers that we are not against the development of our community, but not at any cost. We are committed to respecting environmental standards and sustainable development in which we would actively participate together with the professional public in finding the best solution that would be acceptable to everyone. Projects that are adopted in a non-transparent manner and attempts to bring foreign investors through the back door are absolutely unacceptable to us. We have gathered to raise our voices so that decisions that affect our lives are made where we live and work, and not far from us, without our voice. If we stand together today, tomorrow we will live in a country where the voice of every person is equally important and in which every community has a chance for growth and development,” said Kastrati.
He emphasized that their demands have been clear from the beginning.
"We demand that the non-transparent and discriminatory tender be annulled, that the contracts be annexed as last year, and that amendments to the Law on the Maritime Domain be voted on in the Parliament of Montenegro. Also, on February 24, an initiative was submitted to assess the constitutionality and legality of the Public Call for the Program of Temporary Facilities in the Maritime Domain Zone, and an amendment to the initiative was submitted with a proposal to suspend further actions until the Constitutional Court makes a decision, but to this day no one from the Constitutional Court has commented on this issue. We demand that the Constitutional Court comment on this issue and that our fellow citizen, Mr. Faruk Resulbegović, take a stand for this initiative," Kastrati announced.
The President of the NGO Ada Bojana, Msc Dijana Pelinković, emphasized that Ulcinj has never lost its spirit of freedom.
“Today we are here to raise our voices – not against progress, not against development, but against humiliation, ignoring, selling what is not for sale – our country, our honor and our future. Velika Plaza is not a desert for someone to build Dubai, it is our oasis, our pride, our heritage. Prime Minister Milojko Spajić does not know this because he has never bathed on Velika Plaza, has never stepped barefoot on its sand, has never listened to its waves, and that is why he can offer it as if he were selling a piece of concrete, and behind our backs. Today we are here because we do not want to remain silent while they shape our destinies without us, because negotiating without the local community and citizens means ignoring democracy. Ignoring the people is not progress, but fraud,” said Pelinković.
The President of the Municipality of Ulcinj, Genci Nimanbegu, supported the protests and reminded that at yesterday’s session of the Ulcinj Municipal Assembly, they adopted principles on who and how can build in Ulcinj.
“The principles are such that we ask ourselves that we cannot lease our common wealth – Velika plaža – for 99 years. Our generations will not forgive us, it is not in the interest of the citizens of the municipality of Ulcinj, nor your descendants. The Government of Montenegro must change its policy of centralization. We also have support for our demands from the presidents of the municipalities of Bar, Herceg Novi, Tivat, Kotor and Budva. We have agreed that this law must be changed. The Government of Montenegro must return to the municipalities the property they took from 1991 onwards, and especially the law from 2009. We will dispose of the property, because we know best how to develop. We will continue the fight until we are equal as a municipality, citizens, people. Ulcinj says NO to these intentions,” said Nimanbegu.
The protest was also supported by the president of the Municipality of Bar, Dušan Raičević.
"Today this is a fight for Ulcinj, tomorrow it will be a fight for Bar, and from Monday it will be a fight for the entire Montenegrin coast. I am one of the six mayors who signed the initiative to amend the legal solutions "which finally puts an end to the activities of the Coastal Zone so far. Today I am here to support hard-working hosts, respected caterers, people who have been creating a unique tourism product for many years, and to oppose a pathetic attempt to characterize these very people as criminals," said Raičević.
