Residents of the village of Bistrica near Prijedor have been sending warnings for days because, as they say, preparatory work for the exploitation of lignite is being carried out in the vicinity of their homes without any permits. Because of this, a protest walk was held on Sunday, and yesterday morning, the journalists found a few locals who were marking the area with a geometer device.
Although the locals have been warning for days about the machines that work without any markings right next to their homes, the inspections did not find anything. Last week, it was confirmed that the mining inspector of the Republic Administration for Inspection Affairs of Republika Srpska (RS) was also in the field. As stated in the answer, the works are carried out by the company “Drvoexport” from Teslic.
“An on-site inspection established that no mining works are being carried out at the site in question in terms of the Mining Act, and that mineral raw materials are not being exploited. The law on mining defines that a mine is a limited space on the surface of the ground or below the surface of the ground where the exploitation of mineral raw materials is carried out, and that an open pit is a mining facility formed by the surface exploitation of a deposit of mineral raw materials”, the answer stated.
Locals on the ground claim that everything is being done on the land owned by Bozo Maric. As reported two days ago, he received all the necessary documentation back when Marko Pavic was the mayor. Maric said that it was about theorganization of the opposition, not the locals. As he pointed out, it is not clear to him why they are protesting, because it will be a surface mine which he claims will not cause pollution.
Another person that the locals associate with the works is Srdjan Kljecanin Rufi, councilor of SNSD from Teslic. Some media are linking him with the company “Drvoexport” which, according to the confirmation of the Inspectorate, is carrying out work on the site, N1 reports.
E.Dz.
