Radio Kosovo 14th june 2015. An alarming environmental and humanitarian situation is unfolding in northern Montenegro, where waste from across the region is being dumped and burned near a historically significant Albanian site—just 350 meters from residential settlements.
After more than two years of resistance by residents of the municipality of Plav, tensions have escalated dramatically around the open landfill located on Jerina Hill, a site of immense cultural and historical importance. The area has now turned into an ecological disaster zone.
According to local residents, numerous waste trucks of unknown origin have been transporting and dumping massive quantities of garbage at the site. The consequences
have been devastating: livestock deaths, destruction of agricultural land, contamination of water sources, and serious health risks for the population.
“Thousands of tons of waste are currently being burned in the open, creating a thick layer of ammonia over the fields of Plav and Gucia,” says Naim Prelvukaj, Coordinator of the Council for the Prevention of the Landfill in Martinaj. “The smoke has caused nervous system disorders, killed animals, and severely damaged crops.”
Prelvukaj was arrested last year for his resistance against the landfill—a move widely seen
by locals as an attempt to silence environmental activism rather than address the crisis.
Waste dumping on Jerina Hill began in October 2012, when the Municipality of Plav,
with police assistance, forcibly suppressed local resistance and began disposing of waste near the village of Martinaj, only meters away from vital water resources.
Despite repeated appeals, environmental authorities in Montenegro have failed to act, according to Xhevad Lecaj, a member of the local council opposing the landfill.
“The situation is critical. For weeks now, the village has been covered in smoke from burning waste,” Lecaj says. “We informed the ecological inspector, who confirmed the severity of the situation on-site, but we still have not received his official report. The Ministry of Environment was also notified, yet no concrete action has followed.”
Local activists have submitted formal complaints to the Constitutional Court, which have been officially received, and have also alerted European environmental organizations operating in Montenegro. Nevertheless, the dumping and burning continue.
“This landfill is destroying virgin nature and damaging an ancient cultural monument of extraordinary importance to Albanian history,” Prelvukaj emphasizes.
Jerina Hill is home to the ruins of a historic fortress linked to Illyrian heritage and Queen Jerina, making the environmental damage not only an ecological crime but also an assault on cultural memory.
The case has been documented in the Atlas of Environmental Justice, but for the residents of Plav and Gucia, the reality on the ground continues to worsen.
Author: Ajete Beqiraj
Posted by Nick Meynen on June, EJOLT 19th, 2015
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