Sarajevo faces ecological catastrophe: 60,000 residents endangered by Smiljevići landfill

The health of 60,000 residents in Sarajevo is endangered daily due to the Smiljevići landfill, and Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital faces an ecological catastrophe, writes the BH News Agency Patria.

The population living in the immediate vicinity of the landfill is exposed to fumes from the landfill, affecting the air, water, and soil.

Residents of the settlements Zabrđe, Sokolje, Briješće, Boljakov Potok, Buča Potok, and Dolac will organize protests on Wednesday, November 2, and will block trucks and the disposal of waste at the landfill. As confirmed to Patria by Munir Gaković, president of the Zabrđe Local Community, residents will gather in Avde Palića and Adema Buče streets. Around 1,000 people are expected.

- We have many children with disabilities due to pollution. We have three children who had tests done in Turkey with identical symptoms. One child has aplastic anemia. An unbearable stench is spreading through the settlements - said Gaković.

He confirmed that representatives of the local communities have alerted the authorities in Sarajevo Canton, and that talks have been held with the Prime Minister of KS Elmedin Konaković and ministers, but there has been no reaction.

Gaković stated that while researching the landfill, he found information that it was supposed to be closed by 2020. However, the process of closing a landfill takes five to ten years.

A source from the Patria News Agency, who is well acquainted with the situation at the Smiljevići landfill, states that a recycling system should have been established at the landfill, and only waste that cannot be recycled should be disposed of there.

- This method of waste disposal is long outdated in the world. Ways should have been found to generate energy from waste and to move towards the concept of a sanitary landfill. Closing the landfill is a process that takes 5 to 10 years and it should have started long ago, but the authorities were not receptive. The landfill brings pollution and air pollution with it, everything goes into the groundwater - says our interlocutor.

Furthermore, if waste disposal begins at the regional landfill Mošćanica, the cost of municipal waste disposal services will increase.

- This landfill is the responsibility of KJKP Rad, the Fund for Environmental Protection of FBiH, and the Government and Canton of Sarajevo. A good project must be developed and submitted for European Union funds to try to find a solution - says the Patria source.

Gaković stated that no investments have been made in the landfill since 2011.

- We do not want an epidemic and an ecological catastrophe. We do not want to wait any longer - said Gaković, announcing a gathering in front of the BiH Prosecutor's Office for November 3.