In Montenegro, Unchecked Waste Muddies Once Clear Waters

According to the findings of an investigation by the Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro, CIN-CG, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, and the weekly news magazine Monitor, authorities in Montenegro are allowing dangerous waste from a number of companies to pollute the Zeta, to the alarm of residents who say their health is being affected.

The country's Water Administration has no register of the pollutants entering the Zeta, while a CIN-CG/BIRN/Monitor journalist found evidence that wastewater is still flowing from pipes belonging to companies that have no permit for such discharge.

"We asked the Institute of Public Health of Montenegro to monitor the health of people from the area because we've had a high mortality rate due to cancer for several years, which was not the case in previous years," Djurickovic told CIN-CG/BIRN/Monitor.

"The Institute told us that they cannot make a statement as per this request now due to the increased workload caused by the coronavirus epidemic."

The Institute did not respond to questions concerning this story.

'Unpleasant, uncharacteristic odour'

River Zeta. Photo: Goran Djurickovic

In 2019, tests conducted by the Department for Water Quality at the Hydrometerological Institute of Montenegro, HMZCG, confirmed the "very poor" quality of water in the rivers Zeta, Moraca, Bojana and Cehotina and discovered a drop in the population of invertebrates that are particularly sensitive to pollution.

The Department, however, said it was "not technically equipped" to determine the effect on fish stocks in the river or on food produced in the fields that are irrigated by its waters and, therefore, on the health of those living by the...