The Law on Amendments to the Law on Electricity in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not yet been on the agenda of the Government of the Federation of BiH. This legal solution would, among other things, prohibit the issuance of new energy permits for the construction of mini hydropower plants. While the Government is silent, environmentalists are indignant.
At the proposal of the Government, the Law on Amendments to the Law on Electricity of the Federation of BiH was passed in the Draft by the House of Representatives of the Federal Parliament on April 30 last year. In December, the House of Peoples voted for it. The public debate on the text of the Law ended two and a half months ago. When the law will finally be adopted in the Government and the relevant ministry, without an answer.
President of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament Mirsad Zaimovic:
“I can answer you what is up to the House of Representatives, I can’t know what is up to the government, I don’t know. As you stated, we did our part quickly and efficiently, I don’t know about the others.”
Anes Podic from the Coalition for the Protection of Rivers of BiH:
“Laws they don’t care about are very slow. We have an example of the Environmental Protection Act that took them nine years to pass, so it’s possible that this one won’t be on their agenda at all.”
And, if this law in its unchanged form is not adopted by the representatives of both houses of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH at the next sessions, the damage will be huge, environmentalists warn.
Existing mini hydropower plants produce three percent of the total annual electricity, and their construction has severe consequences for the environment and biodiversity. Over time, a considerable number of mini hydropower plants were built on the river resources of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“We have 119 mini hydropower plants that have destroyed hundreds of kilometers of rivers and cut off life on many rivers. Bosnia and Herzegovina in the context of the climate crisis has an obligation to protect the rare life we have here, and we do not, we have enabled private individuals to earn from our environment,” Podic adds.
One of the locations where the construction of a hydroelectric power plant is planned is the location of the Buna canals in Mostar. At the end of 2021, the City of Mostar made a decision to delete this site from the spatial plan as an area for the construction of hydroelectric power plants. However, the decision has not yet been implemented.
Oliver Arapovic, President of the May Flower Ecological Association
“It is delayed that the investor would revoke these previous papers and permits and come before the City of Mostar to ask for urban planning consent again, where he would call on it to be still in the plan because no final decision has been made.”
The May Flower Eco Association says that it will not give up its fight and asks the relevant ministry of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton to terminate the concession agreement with the investor. In the meantime, the investor of this project has submitted a new application for the issuance of a water permit and an environmental permit, BHRT writes.
