Sixth meeting of Sustainable Development Council

The Sustainable Development Council Sixth held today in Podgorica its sixth meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.

The Council discussed topical issues concerning the protection and prospects for utilizing the resources of the Tara River from environmental, commercial and power supply aspect, with a view to elaborating the issues associated with the construction of Buk Bijela Hydro Power Plant. The Republican Environmental Protection Bureau prepared the project design and the Ministries of Environmental Protection and Urban Planning, Economy, Tourism and Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management provided their comments.

The Council has supported the position of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Urban Planning presented within the Governments conclusion, adopted at the meeting of 14 October 2004, that the 2000 Environmental Feasibility Study should be revised. Montenegrin members of the Expert Committee for the Revision of the Environmental Feasibility Study have already found that the Feasibility Study contains substantial shortcomings with respect to the lack of compliance with new regulations based on the EU directives.

A wide public and professional debate attended by UNESCO experts is scheduled to take place after the revision of the existing or possible preparation of a new study. The document will then be forwarded to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Urban Planning for environmental certification.

The opinion of the experts committed by the UNESCO will have a decisive say in the final decision on that issue.

The Council recommended that relevant state authorities should intensify the preparation of the Energy Development Strategy of Montenegro, emphasizing the importance of rational use power consumption with a view to overcoming the power shortage.

The initiative of the Ministry of Economy to resolve the power shortage issue by utilizing the existing resources, obeying the principles of sustainable development, has been supported.

The Council emphasized the importance of the sustainable development model for Montenegro, arguing that all state decisions should be made in compliance with that concept.

Particular emphasis was placed on the need to establish the Montenegrin National Committee for Cooperation with UNESCO, which is meant to promote the communication with that UN institution, since a considerable number of Montenegros national assets are placed under its protection.