BROĆETA: THE OPENING OF A TIRE INCINERATOR FACILITY SHOULD BE PREVENTED BY LEGAL MEANS

BOSANSKO GRAHOVO, JUNE 19 /SRNA/ - Goran Broćeta, a member of the House of Peoples of the FBiH Parliament, told SRNA that the opening of a pyrolysis facility, that is, a tire incinerator, on the grounds of the former brickworks in Bosansko Grahovo would be harmful to the health of the Serb returnee population, who are already struggling with harsh living conditions, and that such plans should be opposed by all legal means.

"I received the news about the revived plans to build a tire incinerator with disbelief and fear. Is someone's lucrative business really more important than people’s health and the preservation of clean, untouched nature?" asked Broćeta, who is also the Head of the Serb Caucus in the Livno Canton Assembly. Broćeta expressed deep concern over the renewed attempt to open the controversial facility, emphasizing that it is shameful that someone is trying to push through this harmful project for a third time. "Grahovo is a small and sparsely populated municipality, but it is blessed with extraordinary natural wealth - rivers, lakes, forests, and fertile land. Are we really going to allow that blessing to be turned into a source of disease? All for the sake of dirty money, from which the residents would receive only scraps, not even enough to cover the cost of the medicines they might need if this project goes ahead," said Broćeta. Broćeta called on Mayor Smiljka Radlović and Grahovo residents to oppose "this inhuman act" by all legal means, saying that he is at their disposal in this fight. He reminded that the previous two attempts to build a tire incinerator facility failed due to a lack of an environmental permit, but that the investor has submitted a request to the FBiH Ministry of Environment and Tourism for the third time. The president of the SNSD Municipal Board Uroš Đuran told SRNA yesterday that such projects directly jeopardize the survival of returnees in Bosansko Grahovo, which is absolutely unacceptable and must be unequivocally condemned. "Whoever is behind this third attempt must know it will not succeed. The people of Grahovo will not give in, and we will stop this, just as we did before," Đuran said. A public review process is currently underway for the Environmental Impact Study concerning the planned pyrolysis facility in Grahovo, which is to be located on the grounds of the former brickworks. Residents of this Serb returnee municipality have for years opposed the construction of the incinerator facility, fearing that such a plant would permanently contaminate the air, water, soil, and forests, thereby endangering both the health and very survival of the local population.