The problem of illegal construction at the sources of rivers in Bosnia and Herzegovina is becoming more frequent. One of the rivers whose source is threatened by the construction of luxury villas with swimming pools is Bunica.
We made a video that shows that today in the area where the source of Bunica is, there are dozens of luxury buildings for which it is questionable how they are and whether they have been granted a building permit.
On this occasion, activist Lejla Kusturica, director of the Foundation “Atelier for Social Change – ACT”, spoke for Klix.ba.
As she told us, the illegal construction of various housing and catering facilities in the water belts of our rivers has been present for decades.
She added that it is difficult to give a precise answer about the number of these facilities, considering that there are no permits or consents for them.
“As for Bunica, which is a natural phenomenon of the Herzegovinian karst, on its shores, in the water belt, during a recent visit we noticed dozens of constructed buildings, probably illegal, mostly luxury cottages,” she told us.
Photo: JB/Klix.ba
We asked if the activists tried to get in touch with the competent authorities, and she answered that the assessment is that the institutions and inspectors do not have the courage to deal with this problem.
“In these stories, local powerful people, who have a strong influence on local and cantonal authorities, are above the law as investors. Legal regulations are set quite rigorously and give inspectors, especially construction inspectors, powerful levers to prevent and stop such usurpations of river belts. When it comes to rivers of the first category, any construction is prohibited in a zone of 15 meters. Given that the investor will not be able to obtain urban planning consent or construction approval for such objects, the construction of which has begun, the natural sequence is to make a decision to remove those objects and return them restoring the terrain to its original state. “Unfortunately, these mechanisms are rarely used, so illegally built objects become amnesty due to the lack of action by the inspectorate and non-implementation of the adopted legal regulations,” she said.
In the coming period, the Foundation “Workshop for Social Change – ATC” plans to intensify its activities and seek more active action by the inspectorate on these issues. As Kusturica tells us, the activists say that the situation is getting worse every month.
Photo: JB/Klix.ba
She explained the consequences of illegal construction at the sources of rivers.
“The aforementioned forms of usurpation of river belts leave catastrophic and long-term consequences for complete river ecosystems. If we speak from the perspective of the river Bunica, dozens of buildings built in the river belt and its immediate vicinity, apart from significantly damaging the landscape, where as an example we cite a residential building built directly below the source of this river, pollute this watercourse through the discharge of waste water and thus make it difficult or impossible for the life of various aquatic organisms, thereby endangering the biodiversity of the area. We especially note that the construction of such facilities directly leads to the narrowing of riverbeds, which results in the acceleration of the water flow and potential dangers for people and material goods downstream. In the conditions of increasingly pronounced weather extremes, I am of the opinion that we should by no means ignore this moment. If we are talking specifically about Bunica, it is important to add that the construction of this building near its source prevented access to the coast and the source itself from the left bank. In addition, the construction works create continuous noise, which undoubtedly disturbs the animal species that live in this area”.
Photo: JB/Klix.ba
She told us that the activists have not received political support so far, citing the fact that the investors have strong political connections.
“We sincerely hope that in the coming period, political officials will see all the dangers of such operations and the devastation of our rivers and streams and will not decide to start a reckoning with the violators of the law. After all, this is also their obligation as civil servants, which we will insist on even more loudly in the coming period. We want to believe that we are all on the same side – preserving our nature and stopping its degradation with these and similar measures,” explained Kusturica.
She added at the end that only the Bunica river does not have this problem.
“The banks of Queen Una, a river that is a symbol of the entire Krajina, have been usurped by hundreds of illegal structures such as concrete coastal forts, restaurants, residential buildings and others. The situation is no better with our other big rivers, such as the Neretva or Bosna, on whose banks, or practically in the riverbeds, we see hundreds of illegal objects of physical and legal entities,” she said.
Source: klix.ba
