The Citizens' Initiative “Let's Save Sinjajevina” invites the Minister of Defense Predrag Boskovic to stand on the side of the people and not go against them and to comply with the recommendation of the Agency for the Protection of Nature and Environment, which gave the green light to declare the mountain Sinjajevina as the regional nature park, said the initiative.
They responded to the statement by Boskovic, who said that there were more political activists than the locals at the protests in Sinjajevina.
"We call on the Minister to support the petition that has been launched and aims to declare this mountain as a protected area (https://www.epeticije.gov.me/). Instead of counting us and seeing who we are and where we are from, what we do and how many times we were in Sinjajevina, perhaps it would be better to talk, to see that we want good for this mountain and for you to finally hear and understand what we have been repeating this whole year. We will say once again that the Citizens' Initiative is asking only one thing, and it is that Sinjajevina becomes a protected area and a nature park, to be used for the development of agriculture and tourism, not a military polygon.
After all, respected minister, there are no hidden intentions, no other motives, and it is not difficult to understand, only if you want to," the statement adds.
They said that they did not want to enter discussions with Boskovic, but as a politician with many years of experience, he should hear the voice of the people rather than come into conflict with them.
"As a politician, you probably know that the main instrument of democracy is dialogue, which brings together common solutions in the public interest, not at the expense of any individual or social group. Therefore, we expect you to speak with the people and not to dismiss them as per the automatism. So far, there has been no single proof that the military polygon will not have a negative impact on the environment, that agriculture will not be endangered, that there will be no contaminated sources from which the citizens of Mojkovac, Kolasin, Savnik, Zabljak drink potable water, in one word - that Sinjajevina will not be destroyed. We have only verbal persuasions, attacks and labeling.
This is neither good nor reasonable; it is even less in line with the democratic principles that we aspire to as a society," they added. They told Boskovic that it was not true that the villagers did not protest in Sinjajevina.
"We do not know how you can say that there were no locals among the assembled people when you were not here to see us, it is difficult to see something that you turn your head away from. Everyone who wants the best for the mountain is welcome to Sinjajevina, who are engaged for its preservation. Therefore we invite everyone to come to Savine vode on July 12th. Also, it is not true that Sinjajevina was used as a military polygon by the Yugoslavian National Army (JNA), not even for a single day, and especially decades, as you are reporting to us from Brussels, for which you have no proof because if you had it you would show it long time ago," the Civic Initiative continued.
They called Boskovic to come to Savine vode on July 12th.
"Finally, we invite you to come to Savine vode with all the other citizens of Montenegro on July 12, to hear how much this mountain means to the people who live there and how much it can be useful to Montenegro. So you can see how Sinjajevina can be much more than a military polygon that it can bring millions to the state and not be destroyed for nothing. To make it easier for you to reach it at the time of arrival, we will give you proper guidance. Savino Lake is located a few hundred meters away from Margita, which you visited in November 2018," concludes the statement by the Civic Initiative “Let’s Save Sinjajevina”.
Text by Vijesti online, on June 27th, 2019, read more at Vijesti
