The inhabitants of the village of Botun, not far from Podgorica, are determined to prevent the construction of a wastewater treatment plant. How a collector got in the way of Montenegrin's path to membership in the European Union and threatened investments of one hundred million euros
The question of building a waste water treatment plant for the capital Montenegro, Podgorica, which is planned in the village of Botun in the municipality of Zeta, has been attracting the attention of the Montenegrin public for months and threatens to break the government or lose a lot of money from the European Union.
Solving the environmental problem of the capital of Montenegro, which has an outdated collector, has been postponed for years, but by the end of this period it must be clear whether and where the new collector will be built. writes Deutsche Welle.
The inhabitants of Botun have been protesting in tents for almost a month due to the announced construction of a plant in their town. They have been protesting against collectors for a long time, claiming that they will endanger their health and the environment. They are also supported by the municipality of Zeta, which has scheduled a referendum on the issue for Sunday, December 14.
One of the protesting residents, Jagoš Bećirović, told Deutsche Welle that the final decision will be made after the citizens of Zeta vote in a referendum on whether they are in favor of a collector at that location.
"We will organize a citizens' meeting next week and announce further steps there," says Bećirović.
12.747 citizens of Zeta have the right to vote in the referendum, but it is not binding for the capital Podgorica, say its leaders.
On Wednesday, the inhabitants of Botun were at a meeting with Prime Minister Milojko Spajić and Mayor of Podgorica Saša Mujović. Then they received guarantees that the government would rehabilitate the earlier ecological black point in Botun - the red mud pools, that emissions of harmful gases would be constantly measured and the work of the collectors would be suspended if the pollution was greater than what is foreseen by the EU directives.
"I really want reason to prevail, because I think that the offer of the government and the authorities of the capital is extremely correct. The plant is not a polluter, the health of citizens is not threatened and there is no reason not to start construction at the defined location," Mujović told Deutsche Welle.
By the way, Zeta became an independent municipality three years ago, and until then it was a city municipality within Podgorica. To date, the issue of the delimitation of the two municipalities has not been resolved, which further burdens cooperation.
If the construction of the wastewater treatment plant does not start by the end of the year, the capital of Montenegro could be damaged for around one hundred million euros. The plant in Botun is the largest environmental project that the European Union has supported so far in Montenegro, providing almost 33 million euros in grants for the new sewage system and collector. This covers over 40 percent of the total investment, with additional support through a loan from the German development bank KfW.
The city of Podgorica signed a construction contract with the Turkish consortium Kuzu Group 2022, and EU officials have repeatedly announced that the criteria from Chapter 27 - environmental protection - cannot be met until the construction of the existing facility in Botun begins.
In negotiations with the EU, Montenegro committed to having a total of 29 wastewater treatment plants (newly built and/or renovated) by 2035, so that 95 percent of the population would be connected to the sewage system.
The plant in Botun should solve the issue of wastewater treatment from the capital, because the existing one was built in 1978 and was designed for 55.000 inhabitants, while Podgorica today, according to the 2023 census, has almost 180.000 residents.
The leader of the ruling Democratic People's Party (DNP), Milan Knežević, and his party colleague and president of the Municipality of Zeta, Mihailo Asanović, attend daily protests by Botun residents who do not want a collector.
Knežević announces that his party will leave the government in the city of Podgorica if the works begin, and then that he will leave the Government of Montenegro - if the police "start beating" the local Zetas.
Of the parties in power, the SNP is against the construction of the collector in Botun, as are local officials of the Democratic Montenegro and the New Serbian Democracy. At the state level, the leaders of all these parties follow or do not publicly oppose the plan of the government and the capital to build the collector in Botun.
Because of all this, one gets the impression that Botun may only be a show for the public and that politicians are abusing several hundred residents of that village who have been living in an environment poisoned with red mud for decades and are afraid that the collector could further endanger their health.
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