Association of Citizens of Fojnica, concerned about health, said that mass lead poisoning of the population in the municipality of Vareš is turning into one of the most serious health crises recorded in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As they state in the reaction, the new results of testing for the presence of lead in the blood, published during this week for more than 100 residents of Vareš, confirm that the poisoning with this heavy metal is far greater than it was initially assumed.
This time, the presence of lead in the blood was determined not only among residents in the immediate vicinity of the mine dump of the DPM Metali company, in the settlements of Pržići and Daštansko, but also among citizens who live in the very center of Vareš.
The latest tests show that a few have extremely high concentrations above the reference value, which require special medical attention.
“The presence of lead in the blood represents an extremely complex health problem, because there is no physiological need for lead in the human body. Modern medicine takes the position that there is no ‘safe’ dose of lead in the body,” experts from the Institute for Health and Food Safety in Zenica point out.
We remind you that the previous tests, carried out in December last year, showed that all 44 tested persons, of different age groups, had lead in their blood, and 17 of them were above the limit value.
In the meantime, in a private arrangement, nine more people were tested, and their findings only confirmed the alarming indicators.
Of particular concern is the fact that lead was also found in the remains of five children under the age of six.
In an interview for local radio, the acting mayor of Vareš Municipality, Malik Rizvanović, said that the health of citizens will be his priority, if he wins the mayor’s mandate in the upcoming special elections. However, additional concern is caused by the information that immediately before the publication of the new results on lead poisoning, the company DPM Metali sent a request to the Government of the Zenica-Doboj Canton for an increase in the concession fee.
“On Friday, in front of DPM Metali, an initiative was officially sent to the Ministry of Economy of the Zenica-Doboj Canton, and in the coming months there will be an increase in the concession. What I managed to agree with the company is that, after signing the new contract, the concession fee will be paid retroactively from January 1, 2026,” Acting Mayor Rizvanović told local radio.
The fact that the mining company itself is asking the local authorities to increase the concession it has to pay seems truly incredible and raises serious questions about who actually makes decisions and manages mineral resources in the Zenica-Doboj Canton.
“If it is an attempt by the company to buy social peace with this move, we are clearly saying that the health of citizens has no price and that it is extremely inappropriate to talk about concession fees at a time when the lives of people in Vares are seriously threatened,” the residents of Pržić and Daštanski point out.
In such circumstances, it is worth recalling the provisions of the Law on Mining of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to this law, the competent federal ministry is obliged to revoke the license for the exploitation of mineral raw materials if mining operations endanger the life and health of employees and other citizens, and other legally prescribed measures are not sufficient to prevent such endangerment.
The authorities of the Zenica-Doboj Canton and the Federation of BiH still do not have a clear answer to the situation in Vares. Although all the conditions have long been met, the state of emergency has not yet been declared.
Finally, they state that it is not known whether the Prosecutor’s Office of Zenica-Doboj Canton has even initiated an investigation into the poisoning. On the contrary, despite strong opposition from local communities and civil society organizations, the competent cantonal authorities continue to support new, potentially dangerous mining projects in Vares, including the planned chrome mining in the Krivaja river basin.
