Will the works on the highway near Tešanj be stopped? The examples of the Skopljak and Kurtić families from Tešanj testify that the construction of the highway on the route of the pan-European corridor Vc through Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot be without problems. Although the law stipulates that no buildings can be located in the 40-meter protective zone, except for those with a special permit, two residential buildings remained only ten meters away from the future highway. While the Highway Federation points out that the legal procedure has not been violated, the citizens are ready to stop work on the highway while waiting for international expertise, and the legal representative announces the criminal prosecution of those responsible.
Who knows why, only the houses owned by Melva Skopljak and Mina Kurtić in Lepenica near Tesanj were not included in the expropriation plan, even though the buildings around them were paid for and already demolished. Their houses remained in the heart of the construction site, ten meters away from the future highway.
“The condition is bad, it’s unbearable, dust, trucks, machines, noise, but I go out again, to see,” says Mina Kurtić.
“It thunders, bangs, they pull the truck in, load it, and when they shake it out, it’s hell!”, adds Melva Skopljak.
How could it happen that two residential buildings remained almost 30 meters inside the protective zone of the highway, and that, as the authorities claim, the construction documentation was done in accordance with the law. Why, then, do we need the international expertise of those who provided us with the money to do this job properly?
“Mistakes happen, but those mistakes should be corrected. If someone makes a mistake, that’s fine, but let’s correct it so it’s right,” Alija Kurtić, a resident of Lepenica near Tešnj, tells Federalna.
Through a legal representative, these families warned “Federation Highways as an investor that life, both during construction and after the completion of the work, is not possible at this distance from the highway.”
“All the announced consequences have occurred, which was confirmed by the permanent judicial experts of the construction profession, who said that the statics of these buildings are at risk, and the environmental protection expert said that they have already occurred and that they threaten even greater consequences for the health of the people who live in these households”, points out Mustafa Alić, legal representative of the Skopljak and Kurtić families.
The law prescribes a protective zone of 40 meters. Now it is almost four times less. Autoceste FBiH point out that, under the current circumstances, expropriation cannot be carried out. Citizens are looking for exactly that.
“If they do not comply with these conditions that we have stated, we are ready to enter and stop the works,” said Muhamed Kurtić, son of Mina Kurtić.
“We are there for him, at any moment, for anything,” adds Alija Kurtić.
Authorities were given eight days to start the expropriation procedure for these two buildings.
“Otherwise, we will, first of all, seek the criminal responsibility of the individuals who guaranteed us that these consequences will not occur, and after that we will initiate temporary construction ban measures with the Constitutional Court and the competent courts,” Alić points out.
In addition to the support measures they are currently taking with the aim of protecting the aforementioned families, JP Autocesta FBiH informed us in writing that, given that this section from Putnikovo brdo to Medakovo, 8.5 kilometers long and worth 167 million euros, will be financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and development, international consultants should also be engaged here.
