Protests over the construction of a lithium mine in Serbia continue

Residents of villages in the area of ​​Gornji Jadar are afraid of the consequences of the construction of the mine for the environment, so they held another protest due to the announced construction of a lithium mine.

“This is our country and we will not have a mine” – the residents of Gornji Jadar explicitly said. It is about an area where the lithium deposit has been investigated for more than a decade, but also about villages with fertile land and large farms which, they claim, will disappear if the mine is opened.

“I am afraid of what will happen to my further farm production, because I live from that production, I support my family,” said Predrag Djuric from Nedeljice.

“We had Viskoza factory earlier, which left CS2 behind. We had Zajaca, who had lead, now, unfortunately, children who are born have lead in their blood. We had Stolice, a mine where antimony was dumped into the Korenita River and the fourth disaster is coming to us – lithium “, stated Zlatko Kokanovic from Gornje Nedeljice.

“Wherever the mine existed, the area that the mine left was polluted, abandoned, environmentally destroyed, there are no inhabitants,” said Goran Tomic from Brezjak.

The locals, but also the representatives of the citizens’ associations, started the institutional struggle. They addressed the Constitutional Court, the National Assembly, but also the Geodetic Authority, and if, they say, they do not receive answers, they will continue with the protests.

“The ultimate goal is not to have a mine here, this is a populated place, people live from agriculture here and we don’t want the ‘Rio Tinto’ mine, or anyone else’s,” said Miroslav Mijatovic from the Podrinje anti-corruption team.

Source: rts.rs

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