Activists representing the local community “Save the Una” pointed out that they will not allow the Una river to be devastated and irreversibly destroy the environment while waiting for the end of the court proceedings, this is also the position of the platforms Moj Srb and Ecological Cultural Scene from Hrvatska Kostajnica.
“We will not allow the Una River to be devastated and irreversibly destroy the environment while we wait for the conclusion of the court proceedings, which will certainly result in a conviction due to irrefutably established omissions and abuse of position. Nature does not know deadlines and the law on administrative procedure, and we will not allow investors to destroy it with illegal actions.” , they pointed out in a press release from “Save Una” that, like numerous environmental associations, oppose the construction of a small hydroelectric power plant.
The Croatian Ministry of Construction announced on Tuesday that it cannot cancel valid permits for the construction of the small hydroelectric power plant “Una-mlin” near the source of the Una river, unless it is established in the criminal proceedings that “the said acts were issued as a consequence of a criminal act”.
In a press release, “Save the Una” recalled that the location of the planned mini-hydroelectric plant on the Una River is protected within the Natura 2000 ecological network, which was established to preserve Europe’s most valuable and endangered species and habitats, and warned that a review of the files found that “before submitting of the request for the issuance of a decision on the amendment and/or amendment of the location permit in 2015, the procedure of the previous assessment of the acceptability of the intervention for the ecological network was not carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Nature Protection”.
Due to the established violations of the regulations, the Croatian State Inspectorate filed a criminal complaint against the official who issued the location permit due to suspicion of abuse of position and authority, they stated.
Regarding the annulment of the building permit, they say that the review of the location permit, amendment of the location permit, building permit and decision on the change of the name of the investor established that the aforementioned administrative acts are valid and that the deadlines for their annulment and cancellation, which are prescribed by the provisions, have passed of the Construction Act.
“This does not mean that the building permit was issued in a legal and legitimate way, but it only means that at this moment the Ministry does not have a legal mechanism by which it can cancel the building permit, but criminal proceedings are being initiated,” they pointed out.
“The only reason why the construction permit was not directly revoked even though illegal actions were found is of a procedural nature, since the deadline for the appeal of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, which was not even notified of the issuance of the permit, has expired. The current message from the Ministry is that you can do what you want and how you want, just so they don’t see you until the deadline for objections expires,” they pointed out.
Also, they stated that due to the identified omissions, they submitted a proposal to the Ministry to declare the construction permit issued by the Zadar County null and void, and that they expect a response within the deadlines prescribed by law.
They sent a letter to the County of Zadar even earlier from the Ecological Cultural Scene of Hrvatska Kostajnica, in which they request the delivery of data on the environmental impact study regarding the construction of a mini hydropower plant in Donja Suvaja, and now they are contacting that county again, the Department for Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection, inviting on conscientious objection and demand the suspension of construction and the destruction of the source of the river Una, especially since it is a matter of private interest, reminds Hina.
The Serbian Ministry of Defense, the Una Association and the MojSrb platform say that further reports are being prepared, while residents are still defending the source of Una on the ground, and if there are no reactions from the competent institutions by the end of this week, a report will follow, that is, a complaint to the European Commission against Croatia, and which is why the European Commission will surely sue Croatia before the EU court, for violating the Directives to which it has committed itself, i.e. because it did not protect the Natura 2000 Ecological Network, which is of exceptional importance for the entire EU, not only Croatia, in a timely manner and with prudent measures.
“The intention of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and Reconstruction to enable a tycoon to buy time and enable further devastation of Una and the construction of a mini hydroelectric power plant is completely incomprehensible to every citizen of Croatia. Let us remind you that a 160 kW MHE is being built, which is the energy that drives a somewhat stronger sawmill or is comparable to the production of a solar power plant for several houses, and all this a few hundred meters from the Una Hot Spring, which will permanently devastate the Una River with incalculable consequences. from the very beginning.
See you at the protests at the source of the Una, said the associations.
