August 24, 2020 - In Berane, so-called "green islands" have been set up in eight different locations; these are the first eco-points for selective waste collection of this type in Montenegro, stated project manager Maja Pešić, who announced that soon, as part of the project, the city will boast 42 new containers.

The "Green Islands" project is a cross-border cooperation project funded by the European Union, and implemented by the Municipality of Berane as leading applicant, working in cooperation with partners Caritas, VIS and the municipality of Malësi e Madhe, the local government reports.

"The goal of the project is to improve the state of the environment, by promoting better waste management in Berane. Waste management problems are highly visible in less developed countries such as Montenegro. While on the path towards the EU, we are achieving our goal of improving the environment through projects, media campaigns, and learning from best practices," said Maja Pešić, project manager and assistant within the Secretariat for Projects and Investments of the Municipality of Berane. She explained that municipal waste collection and management is a very specialized activity that depends on many factors, a variety of different actors (competent institutions, the public) and the adoption and implementation of strategies and laws.

“The "Green Islands" project envisages the setting up of eco-points at eight locations in Berane as one of its activities. In a way, green islands are a novelty not only for our city, but also for the whole of Montenegro. The design and conceptual plan of the green islands was prepared by a company that deals with architecture and construction. After that, the locations were determined in line with the detailed urban plan of the municipality and then a solution for the creation of the island itself was provided. The green islands consist of a closed frame that contains four types of containers and a hot waste bin. In addition, their locations have been chosen and the landscaping carried out by a professional company, working with a horticultural engineer and his team to deliver and implement the project on the ground," said Pešić, adding:

"I would like to mention that separate to this project, work is being carried out on a recycling yard and sorting plant project in Rudeš, and this will be used by our municipality (the contract has already been signed with the contractor and supervisory team). With this system of green islands as well as the two-bin system (dry and wet waste) which again through this project was implemented in 1000 households, to which we distributed two thousand bins, we will "close the circle" of waste management in our city. In addition to green islands and the two-bin household waste system, the project envisages the installation of 42 two-colour containers in Berane during the month of September, for the public to dispose of two types of waste separately (wet and dry)," said the head of the project implementation team.

“The project began in April 2018, and the project is planned and contracted for completion at the end of October this year. Before then we still have to complete several activities, but also to present a lot of what has already been implemented,” concluded Marija Pešić.

HRB

August 24, 2020 - Since the opening of borders with the countries of the region on August 14, at three land border crossings to Montenegro in Herceg Novi - Debeli Brijeg, Sitnica, and Kobila, traffic has been about 20% of that for the comparable period last year.

Contrary to expectations, most traffic was at the Sitnica border crossing with Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially during the weekend. There were no significant traffic oscillations at the busiest crossing with Croatia, Debeli Brijeg, and the smaller Kobila crossing - with more than 22,500 passengers and almost 8,000 vehicles last weekend.

Since the opening of the borders, 33,626 passengers and 11,634 vehicles have crossed the Sitnica border crossing, 40% of traffic figures compared to last year. This border crossing is predominantly used by the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the verification of documents and tests, depending on the number of vehicles, passengers, and time of day, takes between ten minutes to an hour or more.

As of August 15, 33,090 persons and 12,633 vehicles were registered at the Debeli Brijeg border crossing, which generated 20% of the turnover compared to the same period last year.

The least used was the Kobila border crossing, where 1,465 people and 671 vehicles entered/exited Montenegro, 90% lower than the same period last year.

According to the Border Police Department, passengers generally have the correct tests for COVID-19, so an unknown number of people have been turned back from the border crossings, not having been allowed to enter.

It is not pleasant to wait in a line of traffic in the heat, but if it is comforting, on many borders in the region and Europe, there is a wait of several hours. There are long queues at the Karavanke tunnel on the Slovenian border with Austria. Waiting to cross the border is from 6 am to 1 pm in vehicles, without food and water. This wait has been caused by the new regulation related to Covid-19, according to which every car entering Austria must be inspected.

Spource: Radio Jadran

August 23, 2020 - The Institute of Public Health has registered 68 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Montenegro over the weekend. Yesterday, 427 samples for the new coronavirus were analyzed, of which 36 were positive. Today, 32 new cases of COVID-19 were detected by a PCR analysis of 267 samples.

Today, there were no deaths related to COVID-19. Yesterday, two patients died, both born in 1942, treated at the General Hospital in Kotor, and the Clinical Center of Montenegro. The total number of deaths related to COVID-19 since the beginning of June is 75. Since the beginning of the first wave of the epidemic, 84.

Yesterday, the recovery of 52 patients was reported, and today another 23 recovered. The total number of active cases of COVID-19 in Montenegro is currently 903, the Institute of Public Health of Montenegro announced.

The Clinical Center of Montenegro is currently treating 15 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection, four of whom are in a life-threatening condition.

Mugoša: COVID-19 epidemic under control, compliance with measures still necessary

The Director of the Institute of Public Health, Boban Mugoša, assessed that the epidemic in Montenegro is under control and that it has been stabilizing for ten days. However, he warns that some members of the public are not adhering to the measures, which means that the epidemic is still a threat.

"We have seen concerts, weddings, religious gatherings. I'm afraid that the consequences of these will be felt 15 to 20 days after those events," said Mugoša.
He added that all this affects life across the whole of Montenegro.

"Fortunately, the number of recoveries is constantly growing, and we are now below 1,000 active COVID-19 cases. Of course, we will insist on even greater respect for the measures because only they can curb the epidemic and reduce further the number of daily infections," said Mugoša for TVCG.

He recalled that a certain number of people are allowed to gather at political rallies but under specific prescribed conditions.
The RTCG portal reports that Mugoša stated that there could be two or three thousand people at the events if the rules are followed.

Action plan for guests with COVID-19 infection

The Director of the Institute of Public Health pointed out that Montenegro was cautious about how it would open its borders.

"You see what is happening in Croatia, they opened up completely, and now they have big problems. We took care of how to open the borders and assessed the risk in our country, and in the countries where we expected the most guests to come from. We took care not to endanger guests, but also made sure that the guests did not cause problems for us. We have provided all the possible conditions for the guests. The action plan related to this area foresaw this. We are doing well. We had only seven infected guests from abroad. They were all treated in the correct way following this action plan. Some were treated in Montenegro; some immediately asked to return to their countries, for which they were provided assistance. In any case, we have shown that we are kind hosts, that we can provide guests with a safe environment to which they can come, but that also means that we set some conditions that ensure this situation," said Mugoša.

Mugoša: Postponing the beginning of the school year due to the COVID-19 epidemic is the right decision

Mugoša assessed that postponing the beginning of the school year for October 1 is a very responsible decision.

"I think that the decision is the correct one. We assessed all aspects and all risks, and everything indicated that it was the smartest thing to postpone the beginning of the school year until October," said Mugoša.
He added that the Institute does not only analyze the situation in Montenegro.

"We look at what's going on outside as well. The latest example is from North Carolina, where classes started in schools, but they stopped after seven days. There's a lot of experimentation in all countries. There are always a few directions and working models to consider. We also looked at several models and had meetings with the Ministry of Education and all other relevant partners from the governmental and non-governmental sectors. I hope that tomorrow the Institute will be able to present concrete recommendations when it comes to teaching at the beginning of the 2020/21 school year," said Mugoša.

Rates of active COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants by municipality:

Urgent medical assistance to be provided to every foreigner staying in Montenegro

COVID-19 EPIDEMIC HAS HAD NO IMPACT ON THE MEASURES OF THE FUND

August 21, 2020 - Montenegro has resolved to restart the Bar-Bari route, on which it ceased operating in 2016. The procurement of a roll-on/roll-off passenger ship to run from Bar to Bari is on the unique list of priority infrastructure projects in the area of maritime transport and would allow Montenegro to restart its operations on the service, which is currently run by Croatian company Jadrolinija, Dnevne Novine writes.

Bar-Bari Service

The ferry connection with Italy started operating on 18th June 1965, and has run regularly ever since, except during sanctions. However, four years ago, Montenegro was left without the ship Sveti Stefan II, which had its classification removed by inspection company Bureau Veritas. The line was taken over by Croatia, whose Jadrolinija transports passengers on the route Bar-Dubrovnik-Bari.

However, as the Strategy for the Development of the Maritime Economy for the period from 2020 to 2030 states, Montenegro is planning to procure a new passenger ship in 2022.

"The Strategy for the Development of the Maritime Economy envisages support for the procurement of a "ro-ro" passenger ship for international maritime traffic and direct regular transport of goods and passengers between Montenegro and other countries in the region. The activity is part of the Action Plan and is foreseen for delivery in 2022," the strategy explains.

HRB

August 20, 2020 - The laboratories of the Institute of Public Health have completed PCR analysis of 393 samples for the new coronavirus in the last 24 hours, among which 55 new cases of COVID-19 infection have been detected. The number of currently active cases in Montenegro is 962.

The number of new COVID-19 cases per municipality:

The number of COVID-19 cases is growing in the region