Round table on a theme: “Construction of regional waste dump” was held in Gorazde

Gorazde must not miss this opportunity!

In the organization of the Government of BPC Gorazde and the Ministry of urbanism, spatial planning and protection of environment in Gorazde was held a Round table on a theme: “Construction of regional waste dump”.
Beside Prime Minister of BPC Gorazde Salko Obhodjas and members of the Government of the Canton in the work of this Round table also participated: Federal Minister of spatial planning and environment Ramiz Mehmedagic with the associates, Mayors of the municipalities of Upper-Drina region-members of newly established Inter-municipal Council for construction of regional waste dump, Chairmen of Councils of local communities Zupcici and Vitkovici, Directors and representatives of municipal services “Rad” Sarajevo and “6. Mart” Gorazde, company “Bosna S” Sarajevo, Institute for hydro technology Sarajevo, as well as representatives of cantonal Association “Eco-green”, OHR and EUFOR. After introduction by the Prime Minister of BPC Gorazde Salko Obhodjas, Federal Minister of spatial planning and protection of environment spoke about the role and significance of construction of waste dumps in BiH from aspect of the Law on protection of environment and other laws regulating this matter and from aspect of requirements that our country is to meet in order to enter into EU. Entrance of our country into EU will not be possible without application of the European standards in all areas, including protection of environment.
In the beginning of his presentation he referred to protests of residents of suburbs Zupcici and Lug, which area was determined for possible location of regional waste dump. They said that this was fruit-growing area and that by construction of waste dump fruit production, as well as production of healthy food would be jeopardized. Minister Mehmedagic said that it was just the opposite, because with current neglected waste dumps none of agricultural producers would be able to get a certificate for production of healthy food.
He said that it was planed to build 16 regional waste dumps in BiH and the World Bank has already provided funds for the first six. Beside waste dumps in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Zenica and Lukavica a waste dump in Gorazde also comes up, thanks to persistent efforts of Gorazde authorities and international officials to finally solve the problem of pollution of water of Drina river. “We are close to the solution and we can start up with the project of building of waste dump in Gorazde because the funds have already been provided” said Minister Mehmedagic. He also said that if Gorazde missed this opportunity 26 millions $ would be given to other towns interested in building of waste dump and emphasized that residents of Zupcici and Vitkovici should not be forced to accept realization of this project, but that the agreement had to be reached in a civilized dialogue.
Mrs. Esma Kreso expert for environment in “Bosna S” Sarajevo spoke about managing of waste and waste dumps, while Mr. Abid Mulaomerovic planning assistant in the municipal services “Rad” Sarajevo spoke about the experience of the waste dump in Sarajevo. In this Round table prof. dr. Tarik Kupusovic Director of the Institute for hydro technology of the School of civil engineering in Sarajevo spoke on a theme “Waste dump as a facility, planning and estimate of the impact on the environment”. It has been said that waste dumps are built with maximum safety measures and their impact on environment is minimal and that these waste dumps, which only can be built on regional level, are necessary in order to provide application of number of laws on protection of environment in our country. The Mayors of all municipalities of Upper-Drina regions gave their consent to building of waste dump in Gorazde and location of its building is to be determined as soon as possible, without making pressure on the residents. Cantonal Association “ECO-Green” also supports building of waste dump in Gorazde.
In the end it was concluded that it should not be allowed that the funds, allocated for this purpose, go somewhere else. In order to provide additional informing of people living here on this issue Mayor of Gorazde municipality Mr. Mustafa Kurtovic was entrusted with organizing of a presentation of the Project of building of regional waste area on 2 September 2005, on which residents of local communities and other citizens would be invited.
Through this presentation and media support residents of this canton will be introduced with the advantages of building of a waste dump, as well as reasons why Gorazde should not miss this opportunity when we talk about protection of the environment and making this town and canton clean.