In August of 2019, the informal group of citizens “Savski nasip” collected signatures for complaints against the authorities and citizens who do not respect the law, which is the reason we have a savagery on the Sava levee and the Sava quay.

Request to put down barriers on the Sava levee and to demolish the illegal road [1]                     

The Sava levee is not dimensioned for motor vehicle traffic, and traffic on the levee is prohibited because it damages the Sava levee, which protects more than 100,000 people from floods. The authorities refuse to respect the law and lock the levee barriers; people run wild on the levee every day with cars, trucks, heavy construction machines, resulting in the already damaged levee. We demand that all levee barriers on the Sava levee be locked and thus prevent further destruction of the levee of vital importance.

Request for punishment and removal of improperly placed rafts [2]

We are witnesses that all rafts near Belgrade Waterfront were removed from both sides of the river because citizens complained about the noise, according to Vesić (deputy mayor of Belgrade). During that time, the number of illegally placed rafts on the Sava quay was growing at a tremendous speed; today there are over 100 rafts, water houses, private clubs and offices on the 2km long Sava quay. The river cannot be seen from the rafts, the noise coming from illegal rafts often lasts until in the morning, cars run wild on the promenade, which drivers now also use as a parking lot. Garbage from rafts can be found everywhere on the Sava quay. We demand that all rafts that were not placed in accordance with the law and do not have a decision to occupy the shore be removed, and thus enable the citizens to see the river and to approach it.

Request to reject requests of illegal owners for the legalization of facilities on the Sava levee [3]

Several hundred weekend houses were illegally built at Belgrade water source, which, according to professors who are professionals in that area, endanger the water supply of city with 2 million people and threaten to collapse the levee that protects more than 100,000 people from floods in the municipality of Novi Beograd. Professors state that such behavior has not been recorded in the civilized world. We demand that requests for the legalization of illegal weekend houses built on an impossible location- Belgrade water source, be rejected. We are asking for the removal of all facilities placed on water source that do not serve for water supply and flood defense, and without exception, including septic tanks, construction waste and ground from the streambed.

Request to solve the problems of endangering the water source and the Sava levee [4]

The owners of illegal facilities at the water source drilled Ranney collectors in order to illegally take electricity and technical water, thus damaging Ranney collectors which give Belgrade citizens healthy and cheap drinking water. We demand that all Ranney collectors be repaired, those responsible for drilling Ranney collectors be punished, and that thefts of electricity and water from Reni wells be prevented.

We collected 2069 signatures for these 4 appeals, on average, about 512 signatures per appeal. We ask the authorities to enforce the law, which is their obligation. Signatures were collected in 16 hours on hot summer days, and the interest of the citizens was great. People brought us water, juice, peaches, pens that were not enough, on their own initiative.

We sent requests to a number of competent institutions: the Republic Water Directorate, the City Municipality of Novi Beograd, the Inspectorate of the City of Belgrade, the Ministry of the Interior Affairs, the Ministry of Construction, Traffic and Infrastructure.

We received responses from the authorities in which they mainly transfer competencies to other institutions as shown in the diagram. The traffic police stated that they are patrolling along the quay and performing their duty [5], which is not in line with the experiences of citizens who see cars on the quay and on the levee every day. The Republic Water Directorate demanded from the Srbijavode (public water management company) to fulfill our requests by September 12th 2019 which has not happened until today, May 17th 2021 [6]. The City Water Inspectorate informed us that only one person has been punished so far for illegal driving on the levee and that several proceedings are being conducted against the persons who drilled the levee [7]. Till today, the water hoses that were pulled through the levee have not been removed (and they were reported for the first time in September 2018), nor the levee has been repaired.

State institutions ignore the requests of a large number of citizens who require them to enforce laws. The example of the Sava levee and the Sava quay indicate that the state is not functioning, and that we are ruled by criminal structures to which the achievements of civilization are unknown and irrelevant. It is also clear that this situation is unsustainable because it inevitably leads to the collapse of key infrastructure systems, water supply systems and flood defense systems.

Reference

[1] Zahtev da se spuste rampe na Savskom nasipu i da se poruši nelegalni put

[2] Zahtev za kažnjavanje i uklanjanje nepropisno postavljenih splavova

[3] Zahtev da se reše problemi ugrožavanja vodoizvorišta i savskog nasipa

[4] Zahtev da se odbiju zahtevi za legalizaciju nelegalnih vlasnika objekata na savskom nasipu

[5] Odgovor Uprave saobraćajne policije

[6] Odgovor Republičke direkcije za vode

[7] Odgovor vodne inspekcije grada Beograda

Prevod/Translation: Tijana Milišić