VULTURES OF OUR HEALTH: Sarajevo to be left without drinking water due to illegal landfill in Krupačke stijene!

By Rasim BELKO

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 A landfill for everything and anything, mostly chemical and medical waste, less than 15 kilometers from the capital of BiH, has been poisoning citizens for a quarter of a century, including residents of nearby settlements and citizens of Sarajevo and Istočno Sarajevo.

The landfill began operating in 1996 in Krupačke stijene, along the main road Sarajevo - Foča. It was built on the site of a never-established quarry of the company “Vranica”.

From then until today, a mountain of garbage has grown tens of meters from the Željeznica river, killing even the greatest carriers of infectious diseases.

Gases and stench that arise when the landfill ignites spread and endanger the population within a radius of about 10 kilometers. The authorities, it seems, are not interested. Therefore, citizens, gathered in an informal group, organized protests at the end of last year to draw attention to this problem.

However, municipal, city, and RS entity authorities were not greatly concerned by this. Citizens continued their activities, and they received the first confirmation of their suspicions in a response from the RS Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction, and Environmental Protection.

The response stated that “JKP ‘Trnovo’ d.o.o. submitted a request to the Ministry on September 10, 2018, for the issuance of an environmental permit for the aforementioned landfill, but it was rejected because it did not contain complete documentation”.

“Specifically, the documentation based on which the environmental permit issuance procedure was initiated did not contain elements based on which, in accordance with the Law on Environmental Protection, an appropriate decision could be made on the submitted request”, the response stated.

The response was the subject of a press conference called by representatives of the informal group with the help of the Center for Civic Initiatives.

“This response from the Ministry encourages us not to give up our fight. We especially emphasize that we have been pointing out irregularities in the operation of this landfill for months, but now we have concluded that even the competent inspectors, during their inspection at the end of last year, did not ask to see a valid environmental permit”, says Vladimir Lubura, a member of the informal group “Stop illegal waste disposal in Krupačke stijene”.

This group asks the authorities how it is possible for the landfill to operate without a permit and for no one to react.

And we asked too. We asked the mayor of Trnovo RS, Dragomir Gagović, about the landfill and the lack of an environmental permit.

“By decision of the Municipal Assembly, the company manages the landfill, which is regional for the municipalities of Istočna Ilidža, Trnovo, and Istočno Novo Sarajevo. There is an environmental inspector at the city level who carries out control. As local authorities, we do not have much jurisdiction. Let the inspection bodies of Istočno Sarajevo confirm whether they do or not. That is a question for the company's bodies. There is a sanitary inspector, he has been there several times, and as far as I know, the citizens' claims have been denied”, Gagović told Patria.

The citizens' claims are completely opposite. Because, in an informal conversation, they reveal to us that outside of working hours, trucks from the company “ALBA” from Herzegovina bring waste from nursing homes, health centers, and hospitals to the landfill.

“The landfill operates until 4 PM, and after working hours, trucks from the ‘ALBA’ company bring various waste in a convoy. At the company Grafo-tisak, they wash the facilities three times a week, pack it into barrels, and bring it here. All of this eventually ends up in the river, and then in the water sources for Sarajevo. This is not just a problem for us who live here, this is a much wider problem”, the citizens tell us.

They add that there was also a tire incinerator at the landfill where three workers died in one year.

“All these gases and toxic substances were inhaled by the citizens of Kijevo, Istočna Ilidža, and beyond. They are poisoning us for the profit of a few people. This must be stopped”, they add.

We tried to enter the landfill to show you the scale of the danger through video and photo recordings. But, not even a minute had passed since we parked in front of the landfill when a vehicle arrived behind us with a guard who works at the landfill. He soon locked the gate.

We saw the consequences of what the diligent guard hid behind the gate even without entering. Namely, a stream of toxic substances flows along the main road, which freezes in sub-zero temperatures and creates a danger to traffic.

 

Part of these substances also flows under the main road, through a dug-out drain that empties directly into the Željeznica river, which, as is well known, ends up in the water area from which Sarajevo is supplied.

Citizens announce new protests and state that their fight will not stop. And what they have achieved so far is quite enough for the competent authorities of the RS entity to launch an investigation and for those responsible to be prosecuted.

It is time for the authorities of Sarajevo Canton, the Federation of BiH, and the state to get involved. Because, this time, internal waste, chemical, medical, and other waste, which ends up in the water we drink, is poisoning us.

Because, while a group of profiteers gets rich, all of us are exposed to the risk of illness.