BAN ON SMALL HYDROPOWER PLANTS IN FEDERATION OF BIH Deadline passed, Ministry of Environment making excuses

(Patria) - Over 400 small hydropower plants (SHPPs) are planned to be built in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on more than 250 watercourses. These hydropower plants destroy the most valuable natural treasure of this country for the enrichment of a handful of private individuals from powerful financial and political clans.

The fight of local communities for rivers and public pressure led the House of Representatives of the Federation of BiH to finally pass a decision in June this year to ban the construction of SHPPs and to review already issued permits. The Parliament's decision is a direct order to the Government of the Federation of BiH, i.e., the competent ministries, to urgently develop a plan for the effective implementation of the ban on the ground. They were given a deadline of three months.

Three months have passed, and there are no indications from the Federal Government about the preparation of a plan for the implementation of the ban. The directly responsible Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism is only responding to declare itself incompetent again. Their latest excuse is that they have not received information about the decision of the House of Representatives. Time is openly being bought for private businesses to extract as much profit as possible from the destruction of our rivers.

The latest example is the Ugar river. Precisely after the deadline given to the Government of FBiH expired, the construction of a new SHPP began on the Ugar. If this construction monstrosity is not stopped, a total of seven hydropower plants will be built on the Ugar itself. The entire river will end up in pipes. The Ugar is just one of the rivers on which the construction of SHPPs has intensified during this period – despite the explicit position of the highest legislative body in FBiH. Representatives of river guardian groups today submitted the text of the Decision of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament to the Government, along with draft bylaws through which the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism can implement the ban on SHPP construction and permanently protect our rivers and their wildlife.

A press conference will be held in front of the Government building of the Federation of BiH on Thursday, September 24, 2020, starting at 11:00 AM.