Coal mining in Sanski Most has been a perennial problem for the residents of this municipality. The concession contract that was signed with the company “Lager”, they say, brought them more harm than good. Because, they add, their roads are destroyed and their health is at risk.
“This is a disaster. We can’t take out the laundry, there is no road, I don’t know where this is going and how far” – asks Sadika Rekić, a resident of the village of Bašići, whose life has become increasingly difficult since the surface mining of the brown oil mine spread to the houses .
Pollution threatens their income, and damage to houses is visible as a result of blasting.
“I don’t know where, what, who should I turn to? It’s a mockery,” points out local resident Nail Rekić.
“It’s not easy to live here, but you have to, especially us older people. We have nowhere to go,” says Zulfo Delić, a resident of the village of Modra.
The Government of the Una-Sana Canton assessed that there are currently no conditions for terminating the concession contract with the company Lager from Posušje, which was confirmed by the Federal Minister of Energy, Mining and Energy. Citizens protested, signed petitions and all that – in vain. The local citizens’ initiative warns that the revolt will get bigger and bigger, because the regulations, they say, are not respected.
“They have permits, but they are not respected, the conditions and way of working are not respected. That’s the problem. No one can sell and alienate my property without me. We have ten endangered villages, this here is just one piece,” emphasizes Faruk Beširević from Informal group of citizens “Life on coal”.
The situation is not even close to what the councilors had hoped for when they gave consent for coal mining in 2015.
“Back then it was political marketing. We were told that huge funds would be in our budget, that they would be used to improve our tourist centers, road infrastructure. Now we see that it’s all a counter. Everything is devastated,” says Jasmin Mujačić, councilor in OV Sanski Most.
The estimated stock of brown coal in Sanski Most is 400 million tons, according to the website of the “Lager” company, which is facing a series of obstructions. Last year, they say, their machine, worth more than a million marks, was intentionally set on fire, and someone had left two bullets on it before that. Upon reporting, the police concluded that there had been self-immolation.
The first house in the village of Bašići is only 40 meters from the surface mine. Those who live there say that they witness the rumbling of trucks, the destruction of roads and the pollution of the river day and night. In fact, they have the least benefit from the concession contract, which, on the other hand, brought multiple benefits to the coal mining company, Federalna writes.
