Association: Vucic Has No Authority over Jadar Project

Zvezdan Kalmar (BETAPHOTO/MEDIJA CENTAR BEOGRAD/MO)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has no authority over the Jadar project or the opening of the jadarite ore mine near Loznica planned by the British-Australian Rio Tinto, Zvezdan Kalmar, coordinator of the Sustainable Mining Coalition of Serbia, said on Dec. 6.

"The president of Serbia can't decide on the Jadar project because the Constitution gives him no authority to do so. The Serbian government, the parliament and the people can decide," Kalmar told BETA.

Kalmar said members of the Ne damo Jadar (You Won't Get Jadar) organization had sat in on a recent encounter between Vucic and locals even though they said they would not. He said the meeting had included local villagers who do not oppose the mine, but want the tailings to be disposed of elsewhere, "under someone else's nose."

He said the environment would be threatened wherever the jadarite mine tailings were deposited. Vucic's promises to farmers in villages around Loznica that they would, per their demands, get roads, electricity, sports halls, and dams to prevent flooding from the Jadar River were dismissed by Kalmar as election campaigning.