The public is still not aware of what is being researched in the mountains around Pliva, and what could potentially be exploited, say the Center for the Environment, after the Municipality of Jajce asked the neighboring Municipality of Jezero to stop polluting the Pliva river.
They claim that the pollution is “caused by geological exploration and potential metal mining”.
Above the Pliva River in the Municipality of Jezero, geological research of minerals and metals in the surrounding mountains has been ongoing for the second year. Pliva is also a source of drinking water for the inhabitants of Jajce, which has about 30,000 inhabitants.
Jajce and Jezero are a few kilometers away. Jajce is in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity, and Jezero is in the Republika Srpska (RS) entity.
Geological research is being done despite the agreement between the two municipalities, which also includes the third one, Sipovo, and in which the protection and preservation of the Pliva River, as a watercourse of special interest and importance, was agreed six years ago.
They are carried out by the company “SNK Metali” from Bijeljina, whose owner is “Lykos Balkan Metals”. The research was approved by the Ministry of Mining and Energy of the RS.
What requests do they have from Jajce?
The Municipal Council of Jajce recently adopted a conclusion calling on the authorities in RS and the Municipality of Jezero to stop polluting the watercourses of the Pliva River.
“We have knowledge that it is about research and possible exploitation, which would certainly result in the spilling of some wastewater into our waterway. Bearing in mind that the people of Jajce drink water from the large Pliva lake, therefore we drink the Pliva river, so that all of us, which are settled and live here, should make every effort to preserve it, not to endanger it in any way, and especially not to pollute it,” told Jajce Municipality Mayor Edin Hozan.
The public is denied details of the project
Dragan Ostic from the Center for the Environment told that, together with several other representatives of the Center for the Environment, he tried to get insight into the project from the relevant ministry.
“We are not allowed to see, the public is not allowed to see that project. We can’t even get a copy, we can’t even take photos, but we just sat down and copied what was in that project, it certainly didn’t mean anything to us. So, the problem with the whole project is its non-transparency from the very start,” says Ostic, Slobodna Evropa reports.
E.Dz.
