Engineers' Association Claims Opening of Pakovrace–Pozega Highway in Breach of Law

BETAPHOTO/SERBIAN PRESIDENCY/DIMITRIJE GOLL

The association Engineers’ Demands, which brings together more than 7,000 engineers of all profiles from across Serbia, has expressed concern over the opening of the Pakovrace–Pozega highway section without completed safety tests and without a highway use permit, calling it a gross violation of the Planning and Construction Act.

“It is unacceptable that the President of Serbia publicly and mockingly downplays the seriousness of technical and legal shortcomings by stating that ‘only one paper is missing,’ while insisting on opening a project that has not passed all functional testing,” the group said in a statement.

They said equally concerning were a statement by Zoran Drobnjak, director of the public company Roads of Serbia, that “the Book of Rules is not important,” and a comment by Minister of Infrastructure Aleksandra Sofronijevic, who accused those alerting the public that safety concerns were real of “spreading panic” and potentially committing a criminal offense.

The group called on the relevant authorities not to open the new roads to traffic before all legal requirements had been met. They also criticized the silence of the Serbian Chamber of Engineers, which has not responded to these developments.

The controversial section of the E-763 highway was opened to traffic even though the mandatory automated monitoring system in the Munjino Brdo tunnel has not been completed. In order to make the opening legally possible, the government adopted a decree on June 21 allowing tunnels to be opened without functional automated monitoring systems, if monitored by on-site staff at all times, Insider reported.