Road Traffic Expert Ševal Kovačević: Odd-Even Decision Is Unreasonable

Court expert in traffic engineering, road traffic expert with a UN license, Ševal Kovačević commented on the decision of the Operational Staff of the Government of the Sarajevo Canton due to air pollution, Patria reports.

A series of measures were adopted - but the most debatable one is related to odd/even license plates.

"This is very debatable. Pollution does not occur suddenly, like an unpredictable danger. This is a process that has been going on for years. There was this last year, and this year there was plenty of time when we started with the same problem to introduce preparedness," he said at the beginning.

He claims that the Sarajevo Canton needs an analytical approach, which will encompass the volume of traffic.

"To see what we have in the city, what category of vehicles, age, to see what kind of traffic passes through the city. We must approach and say: We have older vehicles, without catalytic converters, up to 30 years old. We must impose restrictions, and we cannot ban them every day," Kovačević assessed.

"What about foreign registrations, diplomatic vehicles? We have a mass of new vehicles that do not pollute the environment at all, which are Euro 4, 5 or higher. For what reason should we ban their movement?"

On top of that, Kovačević notes - it is a holiday, the biggest Catholic one - Christmas, and claims: "This restriction is partially justified."

"We see the consequences of everything, but also the political consequences. How to tell people returning from weekend homes that they cannot enter the city? How to explain to people from the hillside parts of the city, who do not have public transport within reach?"

He believes there are too many unknowns in effect, but that after so much time - the decision is unreasonable. Kovačević assessed that two ministries are responsible.

Who is responsible?

"The Ministry of Spatial Planning of the Sarajevo Canton and the Ministry of Transport. They took on governing, but do they know how? Are they professionally qualified to do that?" asked Ševal Kovačević, an expert in road traffic.

He claims it makes no sense to blame only the government, because perhaps the Prime Minister of the Sarajevo Canton, Elmedin Konaković, signed hastily - "so it will all fall on his head."

"I start from the premise that someone who takes money in government as an expert should start from the factual situation and condition. Sarajevo is in a basin, ventilation is compromised by construction towards the West. There is no air flow. The lowering and raising of the glass dome above Sarajevo is strange. It all comes down to the need to reduce the production of harmful particles."

How to do that?

"Heating furnaces are of questionable quality, coal is full of sulfur. Here we need to consider how drastic it would be to ban coal burning in the city. In winter, introduce electricity subsidies, use it and see the situation with gas," he assessed.

As for motor vehicles in the city - they must be approached analytically.

"We have 132,000 vehicles, we need to see what they are like. How many are Euro 4, 5 or higher standards, and how many are Euro 2. Who pollutes? We should not take away all rights, after all, these are our poor people."

Ševal Kovačević claims that after all this, we need to say how much the odd/even decision is worth.

"When we reduce all this, and remove it - how much effect will it have on health. We must not go 'one gets a leg, another gets an arm.' Odd/even makes no sense, because a prepared plan is needed."

Finally, in an interview for N1, Kovačević quoted a book stating:

"Do not act, do not speak without thinking. If they continue to work like this, those who have taken power must be removed."