Podgorica, (MINA) – Prime Minister Dusko Markovic has requested the Public Works Directorate to terminate the contract for the construction of a kindergarten in the yard of the Niko Rolovic Grammar School in Bar, and plant 90 cypresses on that location.
In an address to the citizens of Bar, Markovic reiterated that, by recognizing the problem of insufficient spatial capacities in preschool institutions in Montenegro, the previous government signed a loan agreement with the Council of Europe Development Bank worth €10 million for the construction of seven kindergartens in December 2013.
He added that when accepting the financial arrangement, the Municipality of Bar already had a defined location in accordance with the applicable detailed spatial plan, to which here had been no objections during the public hearing.
The PM remarked that the project was only challenged when the actual construction work started, which eventually resulted in civil protests.
He said that he was sorry that a number of the citizens of Bar failed to recognize the government’s intention to provide a better environment for the growing up for their children and grandchildren.
“On the contrary, the civic resistance to the project has grown into a political platform that has not been rejected by the organizers”, said Markovic.
According to the PM, his government will not work against the citizens’ will.
“And in particular, we will not build kindergartens with the help of police cordons. We will draw a lesson from this situation that sometimes our desire to build a kindergarten on a certain location is not a guarantee that it is what the citizens want”, said Markovic.
He said that he requested from the Public Works Directorate to terminate the contract for the construction of a kindergarten in Bar.
“I have requested that the existing location be restored by planting 90 cypresses. The Ministry of Education will, in cooperation with the creditor, redirect €2.5 million for the construction of the facilities for the same purpose in another city, where we have ready documentation, and where an agreement on the common interest exists,” Markovic said.
Choosing a new location in Bar, he added, will involve complex and long procedures, and therefore he asked the citizens of Bar to be patient while plans, projects and other conditions for the construction of a new kindergarten are being created.
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