The opposition in a town in southeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina is asking for a special session of the local parliament. At a regular meeting, Radisav Mašić, chief of the Municipality of Foča, read information on the plans and development of 14 small hydropower plants on the rivers Ćehotina, Govza, Bistrica, Oteša, Krupica, Jabušnica, Sutjeska i Hrčavka. He said a third of the members of the local assembly asked for the opportunity to talk to investors and contractors, portal Novosti.rs reported.
The concessions are issued by the Government of the Republic of Srpska, one of the country’s two entities, and there are problems that the affected population have from the construction, says Izet Spahić from the opposition group. „We want to put an end to this and make it clear who is obligated to do what and who is responsible for what,“ he said.
Besides the 14 small projects, there is a plan to build hydropower plants Buk Bijela, Foča and Paunci nearby on river Drina. So far only the small facility Oteša B-O-2 was built, chief Mašić said. „The only issues are about the small hydropower plants on Sutjeska and Hrčavka, as the spatial plan of national park Sutjeska is not yet adopted. But I have nothing against a special session of the Municipal Assembly of Foča about the construction of hydropower plants in the area,“ he said.
It remained unclear when the session will be held and who will present conclusions and other information to owners of mini hydro facilities. The municipality is only responsible for location permits for systems smaller than 250 kW, like the ones planned to be built on the water streams Krupica and Jabušnica.
