A few days ago, a protest was held with a clear message: “Stop incinerators” in Mrtvica, which is part of the municipality of Lopare.
Numerous residents of Lopare, in a peaceful protest, said that they do not want to have a medical and animal waste incinerator planned in the village of Mrtvica, where most residents are engaged in agricultural production.
“I appreciate, respect and support what you have done. This is the only way to prevent it. Medical waste will be brought here from large medical centers, the largest of which are Tuzla, Sarajevo, Zenica, Banja Luka, Bijeljina“, said SNSD councilor in the Lopare Municipal Assembly Savo Cvijetinović.
He said that the incinerator was on the agenda of the local parliament under the items that are adopted without discussion, as an item on urban-technical conditions.
“I asked twice not to adopt it, I even said that it would be an environmental bomb. However, I will not tell you about how harmful it is, I will only tell you what I know about what the government is doing in Lopare. The government has been in this project for a long time, which shows that it was planned to build it in Priboj“, stated Cvijetinović.
He also asked why the company from Lukavac does not do that in Lukavac and does not employ its people, because it is closer to them than Mrtvica.
Cvjetinović thinks that it would be fair if the mayor (Rado Savić) came to Mrtvica before the Assembly and told the people that he wanted to hire 10 of them and saw that, if it suits the locals, if the locals agree, that factory will be built.
“We need to be persistent to the end and be against this project. Don’t lose your strength and enthusiasm!” said Cvjetinović.
Local resident Neđo Todić, who is the organizer of today’s protest, said that a company from Lukavac submitted a request to the municipality of Lopare, and later to the Ministry of Ecology, to obtain a permit to build an incinerator in Mrtvica polje, near houses.
After the locals found out, Todić said that they organized a protest in order to try to stop it in a peaceful and humane way.
“The reason is that we are afraid for our lives. It is not a political matter, but a matter of people’s lives and health. People are afraid, for a reason. The incinerator is a big polluter, and someone who is illiterate knows that, let alone those who make decisions about it,” Todić mentioned.
Todić pointed out that this is the border of Republika Srpska, Federation of BiH (FBiH) and Brčko District, which is the heart of fruit production, primarily plums, and added that they sent a request to the local Assembly to convene an extraordinary session – to withdraw all decisions that created conditions for this project to reach the Ministry and be further considered. “For now, they said nothing,” Todić pointed out.
He believes that the incinerator will not be built because many people are against it, and added that it is better to stop all procedures in time because of that.
Todić stated that about 1,700 people signed a petition against the construction of the incinerator, which was handed over to the ministries of ecology, health and agriculture, and at several other important institutions in Banja Luka, while they have collected 2,000 signatures on the online petition.
Miodrag Ivanić, a lawyer from Belgrade, originally from Piperac, explained that by signing the petition, the citizens indicated why the chosen location is not suitable for such a project, and he told people that they have rights on that issue – the right to defend their existence and to protect future generations from pollution.
“If this plant comes to life, it will mean a permanently endangered life of the inhabitants of this area, and thus the damage is irreparable,” Ivanić told reporters.
Ivanić emphasized that one such plant does not have a place in this area, but somewhere where it is less populated, and that is why he does not understand who approved it at all.
“As you can see, this is heaven on earth. It is an agricultural and fruit-growing area where people have lived and worked for centuries. Our water is connected to the river Gnjica, and the planned plant is right next to it. So, all wells, fruits, agricultural crops would be destroyed. Even if there was no direct destruction, it would leave a psychological consequence that potential or current buyers would not want to buy products from this area,” warned Ivanić.
He understands that the owner of the company has his own interest, which is profit, but the problem is with the local government and the Republika Srpska and BiH, as higher levels of government.
“It is unacceptable that the municipality of Lopare in a mysterious way, without a public debate, puts the locals in a situation to gather like this and defend their rights to life and healthy living space by organizing protests,” said Ivanić.
He hopes that the competent ministry will react and accept the remarks of the citizens and, in accordance with the legal regulations, reject, that is, will not allow such a plant to be built.
“It is not even clear to us what is the amount of waste that can be destroyed in that incinerator, we do not even have information on what will happen to water and air because the preliminary design does not provide answers to those questions,” Ivanić warned.
Arif Paočić from Čelić is against the construction of an incinerator in this area, where, as he said, healthy food is produced. “I came to support my friends, regardless of religion or nation. If the waste is from Sarajevo – let them burn it there, if it is from Lukavac, then there. Why build a plant here and poison the environment?“, said Paočić.
The Municipal Assembly of Lopare has already approved the construction of this facility, which is located on agricultural land only a few hundred meters from the first houses and the river Gnjica, but also the surrounding villages.
Residents of the village of Mrtvice and surrounding villages claim that they were not informed about it, until they accidentally found out that the company “Zani”/ZANNI/ from Lukavac submitted a request for environmental impact assessment, which can be seen on the website of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and Ecology.
Numerous organizations from the Brčko District, as well as surrounding places are against the construction of the incinerator, as well as individuals who claim that the incinerator would pollute the air, land and water, and that contamination would endanger Mrtvica, Čelić, Vražići, Ratkovići, Šatorovići, Mirosavci, Koraj, Puškovac, Pirkovci, Lopare, Stanovi, Brezik, Brčko, Ugljevik and other surrounding settlements.
