Mujović announces construction of housing for firefighters

Podgorica Mayor Saša Mujović has announced the construction of apartments for firefighters and employees of the Capital City administration.

Mujović stated that the city administration will submit a proposal to the Capital City Assembly to allocate land for the construction of housing units.

- I would like to bring good news to our brave firefighters, whom we usually remember only when we are facing fire-related emergencies. This city administration intends to act responsibly, and we have initiated the procedure to submit a decision to the Capital City Assembly for the allocation of land for the construction of apartments for firefighters. The plan also includes employees of the Capital City administration. Firefighters are our priority, and this proposal can be expected to reach the Assembly very soon - Mujović said during the presentation of new equipment to the Capital City’s Protection and Rescue Service.

He added that former President of the City Assembly, Jelena Borovinić Bojović, also deserves significant credit for the initiative.

- We began discussing this together during the previous fire season. The procedure is quite complex, but we have reached its final stage, and I am pleased to announce this at the beginning of the new fire season as additional motivation for your work - Mujović told the firefighters.

„City-owned companies will not come to a standstill“

Commenting on a statement by the newly elected President of the Capital City Assembly, Srđan Perić, that the statutes of municipal companies had not yet reached his desk, Mujović said the documents had already been prepared and would be submitted for Assembly consideration if the leader of the Preokret movement deemed it necessary. He emphasized that municipal companies are functioning normally and „will not come to a standstill“.

- Many people hoped for and predicted a scenario of complete collapse. Even then, I maintained that there would be no disruption. Today is June 23, and there has been no disruption; the companies are operating normally. There were issues regarding the implementation of the new Companies Act, not because of our inertia or inability to harmonize the statutes with the law, but because of the practical challenges associated with its implementation. In practice, such a solution conflicts with numerous other laws and would not contribute to the efficiency and functionality of municipal companies - Mujović stated.

He noted that the city has 12 months to align its regulations with the new law recently adopted by Parliament.

- On the other hand, we have an opinion from the Union of Municipalities that differs from the position expressed by the Chief City Administrator. In any case, we have a way out of any potential problem - the mayor said.

Mujović also pointed out that opposition parties and members of what he described as the new coalition of the Democratic People's Party, Democratic Party of Socialists, European Alliance and the Party of European Progress had claimed that the city government wanted to introduce temporary administration at any cost. According to him, events have proven otherwise.

- Perhaps we should ask ourselves this: if we had truly wanted temporary administration, could we not have introduced it on June 15, when the Companies Act entered into force and we failed to adopt the necessary measures in the Capital City Assembly? If the state, I personally, or the governing coalition had bad intentions, we could have pursued that path and done everything possible to impose temporary administration on that very day. There is no temporary administration. It was only the objective of those who had other intentions, and you can now see how they formalized them through their coalition. Let that be to their credit. We will all stand before the court of public opinion and see how everyone fares by June next year - Mujović said.

„Expropriation to begin in the coming days, followed by rehabilitation of the red mud basin“

Speaking about the rehabilitation of the red mud basin, Mujović announced that the expropriation process would begin in the coming days.

- At the height of the debate over Botun, many officials from the Municipality of Zeta, especially its president, as well as opponents of the wastewater treatment plant, claimed that the red mud issue was completely irrelevant to the residents of Botun and could be treated as a minor concern. Yet now we see that there is hardly anything more important than the red mud basin, and the Capital City cannot act on its own. The Government will take steps, and in fact steps are already being taken, even if they are not immediately visible. This is an area of public interest, and expropriation must now be carried out - Mujović said.

Since a legal dispute is currently pending before the Supreme Court, Mujović noted that there is a risk that compensation could be paid to parties who may not be entitled to it.

- There is a potential possibility that the red mud basin could be confiscated. In addition, the Centre for Ecotoxicological Testing is carrying out activities related to the classification of hazardous waste. I believe that study is nearing completion, and I think that in the coming days we will be in a position to proceed with expropriation and begin the rehabilitation process - Mujović concluded.