Fifty citizens of Zenica and environmental activists from other cities came to today’s protest in front of the City Council and the City Administration. The protests were organized by the Zenica Eco-Forum with the aim of stopping the construction of the Janjići Hydroelectric Power Plant on the Bosna river near Zenica.
As explained by the President of the Management Board of the Eco-Forum, prof. dr. Samir Lemeš, decided to organize the protest because the City Council of Zenica refused the civic initiative against implementation of its previous decisions on construction of hydroelectric power plants Janjići, for which 1,563 citizens signed their support.
Lemeš mentioned that in 2013, the preliminary consent of the then Municipal Council of Zenica was reached, on the basis of which it was determined that the forged statements of the presidents of local communities, which gravitate to that hydroelectric power plant.
“After that, a whole set of activities that were implemented and every time the citizens protested, when they sent arguments and explanations why that hydroelectric power plant is harmful primarily to the environment, and then to them, there was no answer. So, our last move was to send the initiative to the City Council initiative with 1,500 signatures. They did not accept that,” Lemeš pointed out.
According to Lemeš, requests for the suspension of the construction of that hydropower facility, which will be built by the Public Company Elektroprivreda Bosne i Hercegovine (EPBiH), will be sent to the five addresses.
They also ask EPBiH to suspend the construction of hydroelectric power plant. Additionally, they also ask the Government of the FBiH and the Federal Ministry of Energy to annul the concession agreement, because it is the same, from KfW Bank to make a decision on granting loans for the construction of hydroelectric power plants.
The president of the Janjići local community, Miralem Kaknjo, announced that he would continue the fight and stop the construction of that hydroelectric power plant in their area.
He points out that the representatives of local communities must be invited to the session of the City Council of Zenica to express their views and opinions.
