The decision of the District Court in Banja Luka annulled the decision of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology of the entity of RS, by which the investor “Hidroelektrana Bistrica” Foča, gives approval for the construction of the “B-2a” hydropower plant project, with an installed capacity of 7,243 MW, planned on the Bistrica River, in the territory of the municipality of Foča.
This court decision was made in the procedure initiated by the Center for the Environment in April 2022, with the aim of reviewing the legality of the construction permit that the Ministry issued for the aforementioned project in 2010, the center announced.
Legal adviser at the Center for the Environment, Redžib Skomorac, believes that the court’s decision to ex officio cancel the illegal construction permit, which was issued by the Ministry 13 years ago, represents a kind of precedent and is an encouraging step in the direction of better judicial practice and achieving environmental justice, that is, the consistent implementation of the Aarhus Convention, which organizations dealing with environmental protection exclusively strive for.
“For this reason, we expect prompt and adequate action by all competent administrative and inspection bodies in order to prevent greater damage to the environment,” Skomorac added.
