(Podgorica, 8 April 2011) – MANS today published on its website the entirety of the evidence it submitted to the State Prosecutor’s office in its criminal complaint against Snežana Raičević, the Secretary of the Secretariat for Urban Planning in Kotor, on suspicion that she abused her position.
From these documents it can be seen that there exist sufficient grounds to believe that Raičević violated relevant planning documents – including the Law on Spatial Planning and Construction – while issuing permits for Alseir Properties’ two buildings in Risan and Premia’s tripartite structure in Dobrota.
In the case of building permits issued to Kotor-based Alseir Properties for two buildings in Risan, zoning inspectors from the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism confirmed that these licenses were illegal and contrary to the existing DUP for Risan. Consequently, they suggested that the Ministry revoke the permits.
Specifically, during an inspection carried out in November 2009, the zoning inspectors established that the decision on cadastral plot 933 led to its fragmentation in contravention of the stipulations in the DUP on such matters (since it approves the erection of two buildings on one parcel).
The zoning inspectors also established that: “the project’s basic design has not complied with the building and regulatory stipulations of the DUP, even though the urban-technical conditions state that the project should conform to the DUP.”
“Since the main project has not been carried out according to the stipulated urban-technical conditions, it was determined that the building permits were not issued in accordance with the plan,” the inspectors’ report continues.
On the basis of these conclusions, what was then known as the Ministry of Spatial Planning and Construction, revoked the controversial building permits in September 2010. This did not stop the investor from completing the two buildings and even exceeding the allotted surface area by 18%.
The fact that the Administrative Court subsequently overturned the Ministry’s decision, a fact that Raičević has called attention to, does not alter the fact that she acted illegally since the Administrative Court’s verdict only relates to procedural violations by the zoning inspectors.
Namely, the Administrative Court annulled the decision by citing the fact that at the time the decision on the location was made – and on the basis of which the building permit was issued – the old Law on Spatial Planning was in force, while the zoning inspector in the petition for annulment cited the new law.
When it comes to Premia’s development in Dobrota, the urban-technical stipulations allowed the construction of an object covering up to 1,500 m2 in surface area, while the building permit issued to the firm allowed for 1,536 m2.
In this case, the zoning inspector also found that the DUP for Dobrota stipulates that the gross building area for continuous objects was given an index of 0.9 of the total land area, which would mean that for a parcel covering 1,400 m2 a total of 1,200 m2 could be built.
The inspector therefore concluded that this permit was also: “not in accordance with the prescribed area as stipulated in the urban-technical conditions, which amounts to 1,500 m2,” and that “the number of stories for continuous buildings is P+1+Pk with the possibility of digging a basement, while the urban-technical conditions approved P+2, which is contrary to the plan.”
For this reason, the zoning inspector suggested that this building permit also be revoked, which additionally confirms the suspicion that Secretary Raičević abused her official position.
Similarly, her constatation that the permit for Premia’s project was issued for the reconstruction of existing buildings does not square with the facts. The investor actually began building totally new objects, which was confirmed by photos taken in November of last year (when MANS filed an initiative for a zoning inspection).
From all of the above, it is clear that there are sufficient grounds for MANS to file a criminal complaint against Snežana Ričević. MANS will continue to collect additional evidence that would establish whether or not these are isolated cases or as a standard model of behavior that has been established by the Urban Planning Secretariat in Kotor.
MANS, therefore, once again calls on the State Prosecutor to verify all permits issued by Secretary Raičević in Kotor municipality, from the moment she was appointed until the present.
As for Secretary Raičević’s notice that she will sue MANS, we would like to remind her that her work as a public functionary is subject to public criticism. She must therefore be ready to be held accountable by the Montenegrin public. Whether she will answer before the relevant State Prosecutor for her actions remains to be seen.
Ines Mrdović
Programme assistant for sustainable development
