prijava
MOSTAR, January 31 (FENA) - Swiss Ambassador to BiH Andrea Rauber Saxer has visited citizens who have been protesting for months in front of the municipal waste landfill in Ubork near Mostar.
"I came here to see what kind of environment you live in and what you are fighting for. I am threatened by the situation on the ground, but also by the lack of concrete measures that the competent authorities have to take to address this major problem, which negatively affects health of many people," said the Swiss Ambassador on this occasion.
Nijaz Hodžić addressed on behalf of the civic initiative "Jer nas se tiče" (Because it concerns us), who reiterated that citizens would not abandon the requirement that the existing landfill be closed and rehabilitated and that a new site for landfill be found.
"This is not a local problem, although the landfill has a major impact on our health, but an international one. The unfiltered wastewater from the landfill flows into the Neretva River and ends up in the Adriatic Sea. This means that this landfill, which now operates without a permit, has a negative impact on farmers in the Neretva valley, right up to its mouth in Croatia. People are becoming more and more aware of pollution and they find it difficult to find a buyer for their products," Hodžić said.
Ambassador Rauber Saxer also visited an exhibition of children's works on environmental pollution, which showed that children were aware of their condition and painted plastic bags instead of flowers and leaves on branches, according to the initiative "Because it concerns us".
"Bosnia and Herzegovina is a beautiful country, rich in natural beauty and we all need to work to preserve it. The problem you face is serious and requires the involvement of all those responsible to solve it properly and within a reasonable time," the Ambassador said.
She stressed that she would personally engage and insist that those responsible begin fulfilling their obligations to citizens.
"This is one more evidence why Mostar needs elections as soon as possible. Citizens have right to a healthy life and environment, and I support them in that," Ambassador Rauber Saxer said.
(FENA) A. B.
