Transparency International in BiH has sued the Canton 10 Government for persistently refusing to provide the public with a statement on whether the annulment of the concession transfer agreement for the exploitation of groundwater at the Poljane location in Livno was considered.
The Livno City Council requested the annulment of this agreement a year ago and withdrew its previously given conditional consent to this concession. Since then, the relevant Ministry of Economy of Canton 10 has been expected to initiate proceedings to declare the agreement between the companies “Dže-Co”, “Lara natural” and the Government of this canton null and void.
TI BiH has approached this relevant Ministry several times with inquiries about whether the annulment of this agreement, which the Government’s working body determined to be illegal in 2021 and called for certain acts in this procedure to be annulled, has been considered. Additionally, answers were sought regarding how the ministry will proceed further in relation to this concession, as the stance of citizens who oppose environmental destruction was not taken into account during its allocation.
The Minister of Economy, at a meeting last year with local residents and representatives of TI BiH, CCI, and the Aarhus Center, clearly stated that he would review this concession and make a decision; however, it appears that the authorities have no intention of abandoning this project.
TI BiH has previously warned that procedures were violated during the allocation of this concession. It should also be noted that the Canton 10 Prosecutor’s Office informed TI BiH that it had made a decision to open an investigation against several individuals due to illegalities related to this concession, based on a criminal complaint filed by the informal citizens’ group “Let’s Protect Mandeka Springs”.
As announced, the decision was made after verifying the allegations from the criminal complaint, as well as analyzing material documentation related to administrative procedures, and hearing a number of witnesses.
