REACTION FROM TRNOVO Minister Kapidžić, in whose interest are you demolishing projects on Bjelašnica?

(Patria) - Regarding the public statements of the outgoing Minister of Spatial Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection of Sarajevo Canton, Faruk Kapidžić, and for the purpose of objective information, the Municipality of Trnovo is issuing a press release:

We are unpleasantly surprised by the attempts of the outgoing Minister of Spatial Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection of Sarajevo Canton, Mr. Faruk Kapidžić, to round off the negative score and poor results of his one-year ministerial mandate with brazen accusations and baseless insinuations in public against the municipal administration in Trnovo, all in the context of allegedly "illegal", yet, as he said, construction carried out "according to the law" on Bjelašnica!?

We understand that Minister Kapidžić, as an ambitious man with a successful career as an architect behind him, is frustrated by the fact that he will be remembered for a rather short and misguided political adventure in which he sought, above all, to block the municipalities of Sarajevo Canton and "introduce a sophisticated form of racketeering for all those who want to build", as the mayor of Novi Grad Municipality, Semir Efendić, correctly noted earlier, but we will not allow claims that are at least not true to be operated with in the context of the Municipality of Trnovo, and in the public space at that.

Moreover, the effort of an official to deliberately spread untruths and mislead the public is concerning, which leads us to conclude that this is being done intentionally and maliciously, in accordance with the goals and interests known only to the minister.

Shifting blame and "spinning" are well-known political disciplines. However, everything that Minister Kapidžić states, he must also prove, and the Municipality of Trnovo, led by Mayor Ibro Berilo, who also received the citizens' trust in the last elections, will easily prove that all facilities on Bjelašnica were built according to projects and in accordance with the previously adopted spatial planning documentation, i.e., the laws of this country.

The developer of all plans, at all levels, from spatial and regulatory plans, through urban projects to strategic environmental impact assessments, was the Institute for Development Planning of Sarajevo Canton, which is within the scope of Minister Faruk Kapidžić's department. Representatives of the Institute prepared all plans, proposed them to the Municipal Council of Trnovo, and signed literally every one.

 

If someone needs to be held accountable for something, as Minister Kapidžić tries to threaten, then it is Sarajevo Canton and the relevant minister. On the other hand, we want to emphasize that in recent months, numerous inspections have passed through the Municipality of Trnovo, and none have found irregularities that the cantonal official repeatedly misleads the public with.

Finally, the minister was thoroughly informed about all projects on Bjelašnica, including within the activities of the Party of Democratic Action.

However, first of all, it should be emphasized that Minister Kapidžić has quarreled with common sense. In his public statements, something can be "illegal" and yet "according to the law", something can be "wild", even though he himself talks about plans and documents related to activities on Bjelašnica all the time.

So let's go in order:

There is not a single facility, as Minister Kapidžić claims, that has been built next to the ski resort on Bjelašnica. The minister is stating obvious untruths! Anyone who has been to Bjelašnica has seen that all facilities are residential and hotels are on the opposite side from the ski resorts. This is the first, but not the only untruth.

It is not true that the forest on Bjelašnica is being cut down indiscriminately. The forest is being cut down in accordance with projects and legal regulations. Forest clearing, within a certain scope, was carried out in accordance with the decisions of the Ministry of Economy of Sarajevo Canton.

In accordance with regulations, the Municipality of Trnovo has paid for the planting of new forest areas and has made adequate payments to the Ministry of Justice of Sarajevo Canton. All of this is supported by relevant documentation, including the decision of the municipal court on the payment of compensation for expropriated land of KJP "Sarajevo – Forests" in the amount of KM 55,632, a payment slip based on the decision in the amount of KM 76,999.52, decisions of the Ministry of Economy of Sarajevo Canton, etc.

When the minister says that "all building permits issued by the Municipality of Trnovo are illegal because they lack a strategic assessment", we must inform the public that, according to the written statement of the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism, i.e., the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection of Sarajevo Canton, when urban plans were being developed, it was not necessary to conduct strategic environmental assessments within the regulatory plan, and you have these documents, minister, yet you are misleading the public again.

Mayor Ibro Berilo cannot stop the implementation of plans adopted by all institutions from the Institute for Development Planning of Sarajevo Canton to the Municipal Council of Trnovo, as Minister Kapidžić suggests, because Mayor Berilo only implements adopted plans.

The fact that the minister planned, with the new regulation on environmental protection of Sarajevo Canton, to centralize the process, to create his own council of ten architects who will exclusively decide where and how to build and operate in Sarajevo Canton, and based on that, issue permits and approvals for spatial planning documentation, raises some fundamental questions.

The Law on Spatial Planning is a law for the implementation of which local communities are responsible, and the Law on Environmental Protection is under the jurisdiction of Sarajevo Canton. These activities were not synchronized between the aforementioned laws. Minister, beware of corruptive actions through legislation!

It should also be known that Bjelašnica was conceived in socialism as a mountain for so-called Russian tourism with only two hotels (a dead mountain), while Jahorina had all accommodation facilities (a living mountain). Why does Minister Kapidžić insist on Russian tourism today? How is it that tens of millions are being invested in Jahorina (which we are happy to hear about), while the responsible minister is stopping investments on Bjelašnica?! At the same time, the Olympic mountains in Sarajevo Canton are criticized for lacking capacity and facilities!?

At the same time, the minister criticizes citizens for demanding a cable car and other facilities on Bjelašnica, neglecting that the company ZOI '84 is under the jurisdiction of Sarajevo Canton, and that the authorities are obliged to restore the glory of the Olympic mountains. On the other hand, the Municipality of Trnovo has provided the use of the slopes on Bjelašnica, which it owns, free of charge!
Despite all the aforementioned facts, counting on the insufficient information of the citizens, some old negative narratives, and perhaps prejudices, Minister Kapidžić believes that he can convince the public that everything bad happening in construction in Sarajevo Canton is happening exclusively in Trnovo, and that it is good that Bjelašnica is not developing.

Therefore, let Minister Kapidžić, before leaving office, answer the public as to whose interests he is continuously blocking projects on Bjelašnica while promoting the construction of similar facilities in some other areas, and whether he sees his business, and perhaps political, interest in all of this? All of this can also be discussed.

The bullying behavior that Minister Kapidžić displayed during his entrusted ministerial duties, which Sarajevo journalists also had the opportunity to witness, illustrates an attempt to install a model where the language of force is used to communicate with municipal authorities, which are part of the constitutional and legal order of this country. This has met with resistance not only in Trnovo, but also in Novi Grad and other areas, so Minister Kapidžić is taking revenge by publicly slandering at the end of his term.

After all, it becomes obvious why people like Kapidžić have caused immeasurable damage not only to Sarajevo Canton but also to the Party of Democratic Action itself, which entrusted him with its confidence.