The Petnica research station hosted a two-day scientific and professional meeting of the “Clean Serbia”, at which representatives of more than 50 local self-government units, as the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Tomislav Momirovic emphasized, presented the largest environmental project in Serbian history.
Speaking to the mayors and presidents of the municipalities involved in the “Clean Serbia” Project, Minister Momirović said that this, the largest environmental project in the history of our country, represents an investment worth over four billion EUR in municipal infrastructure. According to him, the plan is to build 7,000 kilometers of new sewage network and more than 250 factories for wastewater treatment in the next four years, and that this year alone the Government of Serbia plans to invest more than 400 million EUR for investments in municipal infrastructure.
“For me, these projects are projects of the highest personal priority. Highways and an average salary of 1,000 EUR mean nothing if we do not leave our nature clean for our children. We simply have to do it. The policy of the President Aleksandar Vučić is very successful in economic growth and preservation of national interests, but I think it is a great thing that we decided to clean our nature and bring our rivers to the level of the rivers of the developed world of Western Europe. In the next four years we wish to bring our rivers to a level where we can, not literally, but almost completely safely take their waters for drinking without any consequences to the health” said the Minister Tomiclav Momirovic, specifying that the ” Clean Serbia ” Project is already being implemented in 30 local self-governments, and this year the planned works will begin in 20 more municipalities and cities across Serbia.
“I hope that in a few decades, when this project becomes a part of history, our children will be able to say that they are proud of what has been done and to say – it was a serious country,” concluded the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Tomislav Momirovic.
In addition to the Minister, at the scientific and professional gathering, a professor at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, Dr. Dragan Povrenović, also spoke about the preconditions at the local level for the realization of the Project. Miroslav Živković from China Road and Bridge Corporation, which is implementing the Project, spoke in the thematic unit “Wastewaters” about the planned technologies for wastewater treatment. Prof. Dr. Sanja Milenković from the Faculty of Medicine spoke on the topic of health aspects related to the consequences of not treating wastewaters, Prof. Dr. Miloš Stanić from the Faculty of Civil Engineering spoke about the state of the sewage infrastructure, and Nenad Radojević from the Ministry of Environmental Protection talked about the management and treatment of waste sludge.
The second thematic unit of the scientific and professional gathering at the Petnica Research Station was dedicated to “Solid Municipal Waste” and the concept of its further management, which was discussed by Gorica Aleksić Milosavljević, MA (CIP Institute), Prof. Dr Željko Kamberović (Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy), Mr. Momir Milovanović (RD Duboko-Užice), Žarko Kovač (CRBC) and Prof. Dr. Gordana Stefanović (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering).
In the continuation of the meeting, a round table was organized during which discussions were held on the directions of further development in the field of wastewaters and in the field of municipal solid waste management. Tomorrow, on the second day of the scientific-professional gathering “Clean Serbia”, it is planned to form an operational team to monitor the Project and adopt conclusions.
