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Villagers’ land near Loznica overnight, as they claim, went from agriculture to construction without their knowledge. It is assumed that the change occurred so that the Rio Tinto company could open a lithium mine in that area. Therefore, the Podrinje Anti-Corruption Forum announces appeals to the courts, but also to international institutions.
Rio Tinto came to that area in 2004 to extract lithium. Since then, the residents of Gornja and Donja Nedeljica have lived in uncertainty about what will happen to their properties, farms and families.
It recently happened that, according to the decision of the Loznica Assembly, their agricultural land was converted into construction land. They did not know what was happening, they only received a notification, they say.
“Wherever we looked, nobody did anything, we wrote both in writing and orally, and nobody answered anything,” says Slavisa Rosic, a resident of Gornja Nedeljica.
“What should we do with the mini-farms and our mechanization, if it is time to move out of our homes,” says Aleksandar Karajčić, a resident of Gornja Nedeljica.
The decisions of the Geodesic Authority of the Republic began to arrive after their recent protest against the mine. Non-governmental organizations saw an urgent change in the purpose of the land as an introduction to clearing the road to the mine.
“We believe that the entire procedure was illegal, contrary to the Constitution and the right to peaceful enjoyment of property, that people were not informed or given the opportunity to oppose the entire procedure,” said Dusan Filipovic, lawyer for the Podrinje Anti-Corruption Forum.
Filipović also announces appeals to the Administrative Court, while he will address the Constitutional Court due to the decision of the local assembly on the relocation of part of the Valjevo highway and the Valjevo – Loznica railway. And that, he says, was decided in the interest of the company … “In a way that was not transparent either, which was characterized by the absence of the public, which was against the law,” he added.
Apart from the local authorities, the investor was not honest with them either, say the residents of the Jadra Valley. Rio Tinto originally told them they needed 50 acres for the mine. Now, 15 years later, they learn that a landfill is also planned.
“The blackest thing they want is some kind of tailings, some kind of tailings disposal that they will take out of the mine. For now, we were told that it will be about two kilometers long, 500 meters wide and 40 meters high. And we are between two rivers, nobody worked to study what will happen when those two rivers overflow, since we have floods every year ”, emphasizes Rosić.
Representatives of the global mining company recently promised the media that they would do everything in accordance with the law. They also announced that the environmental impact study will be ready soon, and that the mine will start operating in 2022. However, Rio Tinto did not respond by H1 why the land was already prepared for them urgently and without the knowledge of the citizens.
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