He said that Montenegro set itself more serious standards than the European Union (EU) when it declared the country to be an ecological state. Porej argues that the European standards for nature protection for Montenegro should only be guidelines, in order to find people who can help in implementing new Laws into the legislation and application.
"But Montenegro would have to have more standards than the EU standards for its citizens and itself. Montenegro does not have too many inhabitants, nor a large economy, but it largely depends on the natural resources," Porej said.
Surprisingly, he says this was not recognized by the inhabitants of Montenegro.
"Montenegrins should be leaders in that sense because they are largely dependent on the natural resources. It is unlikely that Montenegro is the only Mediterranean country with no marine protected area," said Porej.
He spoke about some of the challenges that Montenegro is facing such as the sea and coastal development, thermal power plants, and unplanned hydroelectric construction.
Porej believes that Montenegro should achieve a national consensus regarding the direction of state development, and that energy efficiency should be in this direction as well, so that the question of Pljevlja and the construction of new hydro power plants could be considered.
"We need to consider what sustainability really means. Montenegro must be energy-efficient and maximize its resources, and there is no real dialogue about these issues in the country," said Porej. He said that the shore must be preserved from unplanned construction, the sea from pollution, and to keep the mountains, forests and rivers and enrich them with content. Montenegro, as Porej said, still has time to become and have a life as in Costa Rica, in the nature.
"There are developmental models where there is no need to put concrete on every square centimeter of the coast, to set up a hydroelectric power plant on every river, to cut the forests, rather than to plant them," said Porej. He said that in Montenegro, the dialogue about the environment only takes place when there is a crisis or political problems, and added that high-quality dialogue between the private and non-governmental sectors and state institutions should be on the agenda. "I see the possibility of progress, that in a serious dialogue of these three sectors an agreement can be achieved, but I do not see any particular interest in such a thing. I think this is an inhumane relationship towards the country itself," he said. According to him, Montenegro is steps ahead of the rest of the EU in what it has in nature, and the EU must strive to create the staff, have laws and try to return "the little that remains to them”.
"And Montenegro has all this already. The quality of nature, beauty, and values do not have to reach to anyone - Montenegro is the first in this matter. It just needs to protect itself from its own people and foreign money. Montenegrins must mentally recognize this as their treasure, and then resources and time will be found," said Porej.
As he pointed out, Montenegro only needs to translate the laws faster and build capacities so that they can be implemented.
"If it was for hospitality, Montenegro would have people, capacities and laws a long time ago. The EU will not help or bring "extra intelligence". We know all these European laws but we will not do it," Porej said, adding that he hopes that these EU laws will be translated and that some things will be forced under pressure to make them more regulated.
Explaining the young generations, what their future depends on if they want to remain in Montenegro is of utmost importance.
"There is nothing Herceg Novi can look for in the development of tourism if it does not preserve Boka bay, if it does not have fish in the sea and if it does not develop a kind of tourism that will extend the season," explained Porej.
He said that there should be more centers and institutions in Montenegro to deal with the environment, and that the existence of independent and expert votes is good and useful.
For a country like Montenegro, the question of what to do with natural resources is crucial. Montenegro needs to reach the EU, but there is nobody to be reached related to nature," concluded Porej. The text is part of the project "Strengthening the Capacity for a Better Environment in Montenegro" realized by the non-governmental organization Green Home, which funds the European Union through pre-accessed IPA support.
Text by Mina, on June 11th 2018, read more at Vijesti
