March 16, 2019 - The Directorate for Inspection Affairs has ordered OHM Mamula Montenegro to suspend works on the island of Lastavica, within the Mamula Fort complex, in order to obtain approval for the conservation project, said the Management Board for the Protection of Cultural Property.
The Management Board states that the Office of the Secretary-General of the Montenegrin National Commission for UNESCO has informed the Inspectorate for Inspecting the Activities of Cultural Inspectors on the occasion of the works in question.
"The inspector's report forwarded to us allegedly ordered OHM Mamula Montenegro DSD to suspend the work to obtain consents to the conservation project. As far as the conservation project is concerned, this management is in the process of approving it. In December 2017, the administration had previously given an opinion on the idea-based revitalisation of the Mamula fort, with suggestions or guidelines, to be respected when drafting a conservation project," the Cultural Heritage Management Board said.
We remind you that the new massive works within the Mamula fortress on the island of Lastavica caused the awakening of the disregard of the villagers of Herceg Novi at the end of last week. The first was the occasion of the initiative of Bokobran and their open letter to all responsible institutions and the public, which turned the attention to the demolition of part of the walls and excavation in the interior of the fort in depths of more than ten meters. It is, as they said, an inadequate revitalisation of the first category of cultural monuments.
The Management Board for Cultural Property yesterday responded that in the report of the inspector for cultural goods states that architect-conservator Katarina Nikolić explained that the dismantling of part of the covering wall of the central plateau was performed and that each stone block was previously marked and disposed of nearby.
"Regarding the Management's actions, we remind you that according to the Act on the Protection of Cultural Property, the owner or holder of a cultural asset is obliged to designate a legal person who will carry out expert supervision over the performance of works on a cultural asset, and the contractor should designate a person to manage to perform works. This person must have a conservation license. So, according to the law, we will be required to be regularly provided with expert oversight reports," said the Department for the Protection of Cultural Property.
About the controversial works on the island Lastavica, OHM Mamula said last week that "all the works on reconstruction and adaptation of the Mamula fort following the urban-technical and conservation conditions and under the supervision of relevant experts and state institutions."
They underlined that the Mamula project was working according to the highest international standards and reminded that all preparatory works on the island were announced and implemented in the strictly prescribed procedure and by Government approval for the preparation of preparatory works of greater size from 20 July 2017.
"On October 12, 2017, when the works were announced, it was explained that, among other things, it would also involve removing the earthquake on the central plateau of the island and excavating up to the ground, so there is no unexpected or unauthorized work", OHM Mamula said in a statement.
As they pointed out, groundworks on the central plateau, where mechanisation is involved, means cleansing the soil and rock material.
"After forming auxiliary facilities underneath the plateau, the earth's embankment will be restored, and the platoon will have an original look," says the statement.
Otherwise, OHM Mamula said unofficially that the works were not performed last week, or at the time when photographs of the Mamula excavations appeared in the media, but because of the weather conditions and waiting for the "proper documentation", stopped much earlier.
To read the original story in Montenegrin, on Boka News, click here.
