Association “Eko Habitat” Goražde was founded with the aim of promoting an integrated approach to environmental protection in the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde. Amela Džafović Kešan and Mirela Mekić-Borović from the Association for “Snaga lokalnog” talked about the garbage disposal in the Drina river, destruction of flora and fauna of the Drina river basin, but also the difficulties faced by the population in this part of our country.
Author: Đorđe Krajišnik
According to our interviewees, the Drina river is a multi-state river, it flows through several territories and if synergy is not achieved among the population of all these countries, we cannot efficiently protect this river. According to Amela Džafović Kešan and Mirela Mekić from the Association “Eko Habitat”, the Drina river is protected by laws of the Republika Srpska, and only in some parts it is treated as a protected natural area.
– Those areas that are not protected damage the areas we are trying to preserve. The overall infrastructure related to waste and its disposal is in a catastrophic state. More than 60% of households located in the Drina river basin do not have organized waste disposal. Households twenty kilometers from Goražde towards Čajniče, downstream of the river Janjina, which one of the tributaries Lima flows into the Drina, are forced to throw garbage into the river, and then the garbage goes down the river. If I lived there, I would drive my waste 20 km somewhere if necessary, but since in that area is inhabited by mostly retired/older people, it is harder for them to do so. They are not even aware of how much damage they are causing by dumping their waste into rivers. All that waste ends up at the hydroelectric power plant, and the essence and the problem that makes me, as a citizen, angry at the hydroelectric power plant is that it has not fulfilled any contractual obligations so far. Currently, the water level on the Ustripača River is 15 meters higher than it was when the lake was built. When we asked why they do not move the sludge, which they undertook to clean because they caused it, they said that they could not approach the machine because of the tunnel. Okay, bring in a helicopter. However, they refuse to be responsible for anything, continue to live comfortably, and we are surrounded by garbage, Amela Džafović Kešan explained to us.
Waste piles up
Waste, as our interviewee says, just keeps piling. While on the other hand there is no system that could convert that waste into heat energy or recycle it.
– Landfills have become huge in a period of ten years, they are dangerous and cause problems. Višegrad and Goražde have similar problems. There is a landfill next to the city where all waste is disposed of, and nothing is sorted. From time to time the landfill is set on fire to reduce the amount of waste. They did it in 2018 in Goražde, and the landfill burned for several months, imagine the particles that went into air and those that went down by water… We have been reporting on this since 2010 and we are talking about diseases such as asthma, lung diseases, but it is also affecting the climate that is changing drastically. For example, one household could produce 16 tons of apples, 20 tons of plums, that is not possible now. By destroying the natural environment, the entire climate changed. The hydroelectric power plant did not even take care of the Drina riverbed, which it had to take care of according to the contract. Citizens cannot solve this problem on their own, even if they were aware of the situation. The problem is extremely serious, explains Džafović-Kešan.
Džafović also added that 16 Ćira wagons full of plums and apples used to be produced in Goražde, and that pollution today largely destroys crops, their quality and health of citizens living in this area.
– There were 147 autochthonous varieties of apples, which belonged to this region, Goražde and the surrounding area, parents paid for their children’s education from the sale of fruit, they lived in different cities, completing their studies. The climate was favorable and therefore tons of fruit could be grown. We looked at the ways in which we can seek compensation, to reconsider the changes in water, soil, climate, all this can be proven, since there is a hydroelectric power plant, changes have occurred. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, no one advises us to go with it because people fail to exercise even the most basic rights. If we were to reach a compromise, we should no longer build hydroelectric power plants because all the benefits are minor compared to the amount of destruction they cause to nature. Republika Srpska and Serbia have planned two new hydropower plants on the lower course of the Drina river, and we also found out that they are planning seven large hydropower plants on the Drina river. If these hydropower plants are built, there will be no life here, neither in the Federation, nor in the Republika Srpska, and it will impact Montenegro, and Serbia, says Amela Džafović-Kešan.
This is a catastrophe that is not being investigated, having in mind that the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton is the canton with the most diseases caused by dirty water.
The social irresponsibility of companies is catastrophic. There is no system for separating waste, for classifying it, so that we can know what to do with it. These are illegal landfills. Why such negligence exists? I have been researching for years and I have come to the conclusion that it is in someone’s interest, everything will be displaced from here, it will go headlong regardless, those who have nowhere to die from various diseases. There is no future here except to unite through associations and start reacting together as civil society. Not to mention the convention on human rights where the right to life, water, food, health is guaranteed – fundamental human rights are endangered by petty interests, our interviewee from “Eko Habitat” describes the situation.
Amela Džafović Kešan explained that “Eko Habitat” consists of individuals who are committed to ecology and life. – We approached the problems politically, but we learned that politics is so dirty that we cannot find a clean niche for ourselves. In that sense, we are called dissidents of this city, the system does not accept us because we will not nod our heads. We are a group of highly educated people, with a developed critical awareness, but we are trapped because we do not belong to the system, she points out.
Today, according to our interviewee, there is poverty in the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton.
– Look at the numbers of people living this area. That’s terrible. The 2013 census stated that we have 20,000 inhabitants, but I don’t think even half of that is left. In my time, 46 students went to class with me. No one is living here anymore. Just me. There were eleven wards and in eleven wards there were over forty children. My little girl is sixteen years old and goes to a school where there are three classes. Today, they have a problem to put together one class of students. There are a number of parameters by which we can measure departures of people. But it is not in anyone’s interest to know anything about it. People don’t even want to admit how many of us left the area, they usually just say that reality is unacceptable to everyone and that they rather do not want to know.
We have no choice …
Amela’s colleague from the Association Mirela Mekić-Borović once again mentioned the issue of water pollution, the river Drina and the biodiversity of the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde. She points out that the main polluters of the Drina are wastewater and industrial water.
– The fauna and flora in the area around the Drina river is characterized by a large number of endangered species that are on the FBiH Red List. The ichthyofauna or fish world of the Drina is characterized by a reduced number of roach fish, woodpeckers and young fish, which once had rich populations here. The consequence of this state for biodiversity is anthropogenic, i.e., the human factor that led to the degradation of habitats inhabited by living organisms. Habitat pollution is caused by numerous toxic substances such as; pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, detergents, bases, acids and heavy metals. Farmers use fertilizers that are just appearing on the market without the consent of agronomists in quantity and concentration at their discretion. They are not informed what they use, how fertilizers should be used, as the profession dictates, especially the problem is the dosing of fertilizers. Everything that comes into the ground, after precipitation from the ground, reaches small streams, then the river Drina. The Drina River is a freshwater ecosystem inhabited by numerous organisms that take from the water everything they need to perform life processes. In the process of taking nutrients, plants and animals also take in toxic substances into their body. Living organisms are interconnected by food chains, so that toxic substances are transferred from one trophic or nutrient level to the next level in the chain. This means when you consume fish that has a toxic substance in it, mercury reaches your body and disturbs your health, said Mirela Mekić-Borović representative of the Association “Eco Habitat”.
She adds that she has done a dissertation on “The effect of blue galica (copper sulfate (II) pentahydrate) on the differential blood count of California trout” so she knows that a milligram of some toxic substance is needed to kill fish and other species. High pressure on living organisms of the Drina river is due to a wide range of anthropogenic factors. Living organisms have the ability to adapt to more or less changes in environmental factors, however, extreme changes in the variability of factors are detrimental to organisms.
-Preservation and protection of the environment in the area of the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde are mainly dealt with by non-governmental organizations, such as our Association. There are no educational centers in this area that deal with non-formal education of the population in the field of ecology and environmental protection. There is no department at the University of Goražde where students could study environmental protection. It is necessary to conduct research on the biodiversity of the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton, in order to gain new insights. It is necessary to collect fresh scientific data and check the information that exists, the literature is quite outdated. There was a desire of scientists from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Sarajevo to conduct research in this area, but the local government did not provide them with the opportunity and support.
Protected natural areas?
The state of biodiversity in the Podrinje area is affected by various human factors such as the construction of small hydropower plants, climate change (caused by carbon emissions), fires, deforestation, inadequate waste disposal (creation of illegal landfills), uncontrolled hunting and fishing, water contamination and uncontrolled exploitation of plants and fungi. In the future, we should focus on reduction of anthropogenic factors on the environment of Podrinje. It is necessary to raise the awareness of citizens about current problems related to the state of the environment and to activate scientists in the field of biology to make a greater contribution to field research on biodiversity. For the biodiversity of Podrinje, it is important to make the local government to develop and implement Local Action Plans on environmental protection and to support the work of researchers, said Mirela Mekić-Borović.
In the area of Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde, the Draft of the Spatial Plan of Bosnian-Podrinje Canton envisages that several areas are declared protected areas, but unfortunately the planned activities were not implemented. There are currently no protected nature areas in this Canton. This fact is an indication that little is being done to preserve biodiversity. Particularly interesting is the area of ”Presjek” where there is an endemic specimen of the beech. The “Presjek” area has been declared a National Monument of BiH but this has not significantly contributed to the conservation of biodiversity. The protection of the Drina River from the Municipality of Foča in FBiH to Osanica, which is the border with Goražde (approximately 8 km long) must be of special importance for biodiversity. The Bosnian-Podrinje Canton of Goražde is characterized by picturesque and fairytale landscapes around the Drina river and its tributaries. Due to its splendor and exotic flora and fauna, this area deserves an ecological approach to solving existing problems and the political will to preserve and rationally use existing resources. Association “Eko Habitat” was founded in December last year. It has a small number of members who work hard on integrative environmental protection, all their knowledge and positive energy focused on preserving and protecting the picturesque environment in the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton with a special focus on the uniquely beautiful river Drina.
Amela Džafović Kešan states that one of the problematic examples is the project of building the tunnel “Hranjen”. -They drilled four kilometers, the rest will be drilled in 2022. There are documents, a study from 1974 which says that the big hill is actually on the water. The tunnel was abandoned then because there is no way to dig tunnels because of that water. And that water is drinking water. Two years ago, they started digging a tunnel. Funds are being thrown away, studies from 1974 will not be read by anyone, just as if the water evaporated. It is a network of ignorance, the promotion of ignorance and a life of ignorance. It’s all the same problem, it’s all the same cause. And when we talk about hydropower plants, there are studies that confirm the harmful effects of hydropower plants on the living world, but also their impact on the climate. One should try to find people who are alive who remember the time before the climate change in Goražde. Recently, the construction of a number of small hydropower plants on the Drina and its tributaries has been planned, and this is another serious problem. For us, the answer to everything could be a return to knowledge, said Amela Džafović-Kešan, representative of the Association “Eko Habitat” from Goražde.
Hydropower problem
The landfill on the river Drina, emphasizes Džafović – Kešan, is a serious problem. It threatens the well-being of the population, flora and fauna of this area.
– We appeal to the institutions to fulfill their contractual obligations. If the hydropower plant had complied with its contractual obligations, this would not have happened. That is the essence. We had floods in Goražde, our floods were caused by the Mratinje hydropower plant. The court proved that, awarded damages to the citizens of Goražde, which they will never collect. Citizens have no way to pressure companies to comply with contractual obligations. The emphasis is on the judiciary, they need to improve the situation. We have been talking about the Višegrad hydropower plant for thirty years, that it is not good, but it still stands. The situation is such that we cannot do anything about the already built hydropower plants, but we can do our best not to build new ones. And things aren’t always that complicated either. It is possible to solve the problem of waste disposal in the Drina and make it a functional business. Recycling and plastic processing companies are being established. They exists for a month, two and then they disappear. But it can be a great project. Why wouldn’t someone buy waste, these are big investments, we are talking about turning black energy into green, but we are talking about important projects, our interviewee explained for the Snaga lokalnog.
She believes that this is a problem of Višegrad, Goražde, but also of the entire region. If the municipalities concerned are united, they can solve the problem.
– But I do not see the will of the Višegrad hydropower plant to develop a relationship with the municipalities, and the municipalities are focused on themselves, not on cooperation, they think they can solve the problem partially. The problem cannot be solved that way. Goražde tried to build a fort, they gave 10 million to the walls, which means nothing. It can only make more problems. This is a problem of the whole country, we have to defend the Drina river from the huge greed of capitalism and from ourselves, or all of us will have to leave this area. In the last announcement of the health institute, out of 10,000 people from Goražde, 8,840 had some kind of asthmatic or lung disease. 95% of the population is sick. They did not alert the public, they just stopped publishing the information. Now we cannot even find the information about it. It is about ignorance and organized hiding of knowledge so that people would be misled, concludes Amela Džafović-Kešan, representative of the Association “Eko Habitat”, this story about the dedicated fight of individuals and non-governmental organizations against the ghost system and corruption, for the common good and for the future.
