Podgorica, (MINA) - Residents of Botun gathered on Friday morning in front of the wastewater treatment plant construction site, to express their dissatisfaction with, as they said, the lack of response from the authorities following the recent fire at that location, Vijesti daily reports.

The gathering comes in response to failure of the authorities to resolve the case involving the burning of a construction machine at the site, although the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica was informed about the incident, and ordered the police to collect the necessary information.

Slavko Vukcevic, one of the Botun residents, said that the locals are “forced to watch the works against their will”.

He said that director of Podgorica Waterworks Aleksandar Nisavic and Podgorica Mayor Sasa Mujovic accused the locals of burning the machine “half an hour after the fire started”, adding that they do not know on what basis such a conclusion was made.

“We are being shamed and accused of being the perpetrators. You have witnessed that we organized hundreds of rallies without incidents. We reject any claim that the residents of Botun participated in the arson”, said Vukcevic.

The prosecutor’s office did not specify whether a case had been opened or at what stage the procedure related to the incident was, or whether any individuals potentially linked to the incident had been identified.