Councilor in the Čitluk Municipal Council, Dragan Kozina, has been warning for some time about the existence of asbestos in the construction waste that the municipal government from Čitluk moved to Međugorje to the location of the industrial zone. Kozina reported the case to the Inspectorate of Herzegovina-Neretva County, which ordered the removal of the waste. However, the municipality expressly denies the harmfulness and presence of asbestos, based on the analysis they did, and has sent a complaint to the relevant Ministry of the Environment, from which a new confirmation or denial of the presence of asbestos is expected.
Construction rubble from the area of the former Tobacco station in Čitluk, which stirred up the public due to information that it contained asbestos, was transferred to Međugorje to an industrial zone where solar panels are planned to be built.
Councilor in the Čitluk Municipal Council, Dragan Kozina, started the whole story about the existence of asbestos in this construction waste, after the samples were sent for analysis to the Faculty of Mining, Geology and Civil Engineering in Tuzla.
DRAGAN KOZINA, councilor in the Čitluk Municipal Council:
“An analysis was carried out confirming the presence of asbestos in the fragments of salonite that were taken from the pile, those fragments are still here. To make matters worse, instead of hiding it somewhere where it does not bother anyone and covering it up, that pile was transported here to Medjugorje in the economic-tourist zone”.
Kozina reported the case to the Environmental Protection Inspectorate of the Herzegovina-Neretva County, which on November 11 ordered that construction waste containing asbestos be removed within seven days and moved to an adequate location. They order that until the waste is removed, the field should be covered so that asbestos fibers do not spread into the environment. Instead of rehabilitation, the mayor of Čitluk filed an appeal against this decision because he claims that construction waste is not harmful.
MARIN RADIŠIĆ, Mayor of Čitluk Municipality:
“There is not a single company in Bosnia and Herzegovina that is authorized to do such an analysis and we contacted two companies from the Republic of Croatia, we signed a contract with one of them, they came there, took the samples, took them away and in 15-20 days we received from them a finding that there are no asbestos fibers and we informed the county inspector about this”.
Contradictory information about the presence of asbestos in construction waste reached the locals themselves:
“If it’s not healthy, I’m normally afraid, but it’s not near me, I don’t know, I’m here in Sužnje”.
“They say there is no asbestos, so I’m not afraid, I hope they’re right. I’m not afraid.”
“I don’t know, believe me, I know it was there, but I didn’t see where they transferred him.”
The chief of Čitluk says that he filed a complaint with the county environment ministry twenty days ago about the decision of the inspection and is still waiting for an answer. The relevant minister, Emil Balavac, did not want to be in front of our cameras. He says he does not want to speculate until the facts of the entire case are established. During this time, construction waste is used for filling and buffering surfaces.
