‘They won’t give us the papers, the residents are worried’: Zupca residents near Bar ask where the motorway will pass

Residents of the village of Zupca near Bar are asking to see the documentation showing where the Bar–Boljare motorway section will pass through their village, as the mayor of the Municipality of Bar, Dušan Raičević, had announced. As the Vijesti portal reports, they claim that the Municipality of Bar and the state company “Monteput” do not want to make this possible for them — the state company says it cannot make available documents that are at the working stage, while from the Municipality they have received no answer.

Stanka Pavićević addressed “Vijesti” on behalf of the village residents and said that to get acquainted with the documentation they turned to the Municipality, where they were told that the Municipality does not have those papers and that her request was forwarded to “Monteput,” while the company says it has given the documentation to the Municipality. In an official letter, the citizens drew attention to what they consider “serious procedural problems that make it difficult for the citizens of Zupca to express themselves in time and with full information about plans that may directly affect their property and their living environment.”

According to the residents, the Municipality of Bar directed them to “Monteput,” on the grounds that the Municipality does not possess the requested documentation, even though Raičević, at least six months ago, knew the details of the route of the motorway that will pass through the village. The residents consider this procedure questionable, because the public is asked to express itself on the planning document, while at the same time there is no access to all the information needed to understand the possible impact of the route on Zupca. They express concern especially about the possible impact of the project on groundwater, water sources, cemeteries, the church and existing houses.

From “Monteput,” whose director is Miljan Ljiljanić, they told “Vijesti” that the conceptual design of the Virpazar–Bar segment (the Zaljevo interchange) is under way, which represents the joint part of the Bar–Boljare motorway corridor and the Adriatic–Ionian motorway. According to them, they do not practise giving access to working versions of documentation, because these are subject to change and “may cause a series of discontents among the local population due to inaccurate interpretation of the design documentation.” Raičević said in March, at a forum in Mrkojevići, that the future motorway route through the Municipality of Bar will be about 23 kilometres long and will connect Virpazar and Bar, and that the tunnel exit is planned in Zupca, where the first toll ramp will also be built.