The pre-election period of the last parliamentary elections was marked by the involvement of the Military of Montenegro in the construction of local infrastructure. The Military cleared roads and cut bushes in inaccessible areas of Podgorica, according to documentation held by MANS Investigation Center and the daily Vijesti.
Short before the announcement of parliamentary elections and during the campaign period, or from May until the end of July 2016, the Capital and the Ministry of Defense signed three agreements on technical cooperation, by which the Military of Montenegro pledged to cut shrubs and rehabilitate several sections of local roads free of charge until the end of the year.
According to official data, the first contract was signed in May, the second on the day of election announcement – on July 11, and the third at the end of July, after the pre-election campaign had officially started. The contracts were signed by the mayor Slavoljub Stijepovic on behalf of the Capital City and the former Minister of Defense Milica Pejanovic Djurisic.
The agreement of May 2016 provided for the widening and rehabilitation of the road Drazevina-Buronje, and the deadline for completion of works was 120 working days. Another agreement was signed on July 11, the same day when President Filip Vujanovic called for parliamentary elections, and provides for the widening and reconstruction of the road Preoc-Krzanja-Mokra-Sirokar-Rikavac-Kostica-Korita within 140 working days.
Pejanovic-Djurisic and Stijepovic signed the last agreement on July 29. The document deals with “cutting shrubs on local roads”, which should be completed within 140 working days during 2016.
The signed agreements are typical and they oblige the Ministry of Defense to carry out road clearing or cutting shrubs free of charge, with its workforce, machinery, tools and other necessary equipment, for the needs of investors.
As stated, the Military of Montenegro has found that it is in its interest to implement the works as it will provide practical training of engineering units for future tasks in war and peacetime, and provide support to civilian structures and the population of Montenegro.
On the other hand, Podgorica Capital City has found its interest in obtaining new roads, although the local government has its own budget and the Agency for Construction and Development of Podgorica, which is responsible for the construction of local infrastructure in the territory of the Capital.
Explaining why the Military worked on the local infrastructure, the Ministry said that it saved material resources, because the training on the fields within the base would have required the same amount of fuel with no visible results of the work, and the soldiers’ skills would not have been improved that much.
They add that in November 2015, the General Staff made the Plan of Engineering Works for 2016.
“The results of such training are visible. In previous years we have trained and certified a significant number of members of the engineering unit to handle engineering (construction) machines, as well as a number of instructors to train work on the engineering machine. If we consider that in Montenegro there is no institution that provides training for such professions, which are required by many construction companies, this training system is greatly important for the state as well”, it has been stated from this department.
The MoD notes that the engineering unit has not stopped working for several years, because the rules require that the training runs continuously. They claim that there can be no talk of abuse of the Military and that in the past five years, a number of local roads was repaired this way in more than 10 municipalities.
The Capital believes that everyone benefits from this partnership: “The military takes the opportunity to engage the machinery and engineers in ordinary circumstances, while the capital city, at very favorable conditions, carries out construction and reconstruction of roads, mostly in rural parts of the city. The citizens are the ones who benefit the most, of course, as this increases their quality of life. “
Authors:
Tina Popovic
Ines Mrdovic
This text is created with the support of the European Union and the U.S. Embassy Podgorica. Network for Affirmation of Non-Governmental Sector – MANS is solely responsible for the contents of this article, and the views taken herein shall not in any case be considered as those of the European Union.
