Today, six NGOs filed a criminal complaint against the responsible persons in the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, as well as environmental and water inspection, members of the commission for supervision of works on the highway and CRBC company – the contractor.
The complaint was filed by MANS, Green Home, Montenegrin Ecologists Society, Center for Protection and Research of Birds of Montenegro, EXPEDITIO and Our Action.
The criminal complaint is filed on grounds of suspicion that they have misused their official position, unconsciously performed the official duty of supervision and thus caused environmental pollution, which ultimately resulted in devastation of the Tara River.
As already known, after the Investigative Centre published the footages, on a section slightly longer than 5 km, in part between Mateševo and Jabuka, Tara riverbed is unrecognizable and destroyed, with relocated riverbed, changed structure of the bottom and the coast, with ruined biodiversity and landscape.
In the criminal complaint, responsible persons are accused that, by violating regulations and international conventions, they have unlawfully used their official position and allowed the contractor to obtain the benefit by performing criminal offense of devastation of the river bank of Tara and causes great damage to the environment and natural resources.
Competent inspections and members of the state commissions for supervision are subject of the criminal complaint because they have not performed official duties of supervision in accordance with the law, allowing the contractor to devastate Tara and cause great damage to the environment and natural resources.
By violating the regulations on the protection and conservation of the natural good of the Tara River by discharging substances into the water of the river Tara I into the soil and causing significant damage to the quality of water and soil, both for the animal and plant life, a serious offense of polluting of the environment has been committed.
Also, by enabling and performing works on the site where the works have led to the destruction and damage to the animal and plant life of large scale, as well as to pollution of the environment to the extent that their removal requires long time and high costs, there is a suspicion that the accused have committed a severe criminal offense of damage to the environment.
Finally, by performing works on the site, the Tara River has been destroyed as a protected natural good, which is also covered by this criminal complaint.
We expect that the competent authorities, primarily the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office, will determine the responsibility for devastation of the Tara River in order to begin the rehabilitation of the current situation as soon as possible, and prevent further devastation in this and other locations on which the highway is being built.
MANS
Green Home
Montenegrin Ecologists Society
Center for Protection and Research of Birds of Montenegro
EXPEDITIO
Our Action
