Members of the Committee on Education, Science, Culture and Sports overwhelmingly supported the Bill amending the Law on the Protection of the Natural, Cultural and Historical Area of Kotor.
The General Director of the Directorate for Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture, Aleksandar Dajkovic, said that the proposal for amendments to the act is another step towards the preservation and valorization of the natural and cultural-historical area of Kotor.
In today's session of the Committee on Education, Science, Culture and Sports, he said that since 2016, the state had taken significant steps to preserve this area.
"Most of the problems we see in Kotor are due to certain deficiencies in the planning documentation. I believe that after the adoption of the zoning plan, a significant number of these challenges will be prevented in practice," said Dajkovic.
As for the infrastructure projects whose implementation is necessary in Kotor in order to preserve the area and enable its sustainable development, the Ministry of Culture will intensively speak with UNESCO and will absolutely support the local government and the state government.
A delegate from the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Bogdan Fatic said the changes to the law relate to refining the procedure for carrying out the project documentation, or how an investor can get permission to execute works in a protected area.
"This is a buffer zone that covers an area of about 48,000 hectares," Fatic said.
He explained that the amendments to the Act made it clear that before issuing the urban-technical conditions, the chief city architect must submit an initiative to the Directorate for the Protection of Cultural Property, and the Board would form a committee that would consider these requests within 15 days.
"The Management Board makes an individual assessment at the request of the investor, and for its preparation, the Management Board establishes an expert team within 15 days from the day the law is being adopted," said Fatic.
The expert team then elaborates and submits an individual assessment proposal based on specific guidelines.
"It is good that these amendments to the Law clearly define what these guidelines are and what guidelines are necessary for such a project to be fulfilled," Fatic added.
He said that the National Commission for UNESCO submits the report to the Directorate and later submits it to the UNESCO for further opinion.
According to Fatic, only after a positive opinion from UNESCO is received, does the investor have the right to build in a protected zone.
"In this way, all the deficiencies that were present during the previous implementation of the Law were eliminated and I believe that by adopting these amendments we will improve this act, and thus have a positive impact on the protection of the natural and cultural-historical area of Kotor and its surroundings," said Fatic.
Liberal Party MP Andrija Popovic said Kotor is a unique area because of its status.
He stated that he supports the amendments to the Law on the Protection of the Natural and Cultural-Historical Area of Kotor concerning individual Heritage Impact Assessment, where each project would be subject to an individual Heritage Impact Assessment.
"Of course, I support this, and I think this is a step forward in the whole Law on the Protection of the Natural and Cultural-Historical Area of Kotor," Popovic said.
He called on the Government and the Ministry of Culture to take Kotor more seriously, as the city is in a complicated and challenging situation.
"Every year, there is a growth of ten to 15 percent of tourists, and the infrastructure in Kotor cannot handle it," Popovic said.
Bosnjak Party MP Ervin Ibrahimovic said he was convinced that the protected zones would finally be clearly identified.
DPS MP Branka Tanasijevic said Kotor is a city that needs a lot of attention, not just because it is on the UNESCO list.
She stated that she supported the Bill on the Protection of the Natural and Cultural-Historical Area of Kotor, as it is a great contribution to the protection of that city.
Text by MINA News, on October 16th, 2019, read more at Vijesti
