Minister Brežan is apparently not convinced by the environmental risks associated with the controversial C0 sewage canal. On Wednesday, he said that the C0 sewage canal “brings more benefits than risks.” And to complete the irony, the Minister of the Environment said that on World Water Day.
Minister for Natural Resources and Spatial Planning Uroš Brežan believes that the controversial C0 sewer project, which could potentially pollute groundwater for almost the entirety of Ljubljana, can continue. However, the party Greens of Slovenia (Zeleni Slovenije) has reported suspicions of environmental crime to the police and the specialised public prosecutor’s office, which is what the illegal construction of this sewage canal actually is. Minister Brežan, however, believes that the controversial project brings more benefits than risks. Brežan said: “The project already started there in 2014, when the final construction permits were obtained. The project has been registered with Brussels under the Slovenian cohesion policy, it has been approved by the European Commission and has final building permits,” Siol media outlet reports.
The Greens of Slovenia are demanding that the project be suspended immediately until it has been reviewed by the authorities. They also stressed that human rights violations are suspected. The Greens of Slovenia: “Drinking water sources for cities with more than 100 thousand inhabitants are part of critical infrastructure, which means that all immediate risks of contamination of drinking water must be eliminated.” The same is also required by the European directive adopted in January, which relates to the resilience of critical entities. The Greens of Slovenia are convinced that the construction of such a canal is not in line with the directive. They specifically highlighted the seismic risk of the area. In their view, this is an “environmental crime of the widest significance” and indicates a suspected violation of human rights.
There is evidence of illegal encroachment on other people’s property, and farmers are unable to access their fields to carry out essential spring work. They demand that the construction of the project be stopped immediately until the police and the prosecutor’s office have fully reviewed the matter, including all procedures, permits and consents. The police and the prosecutor’s office should also be informed of “the first findings of the company Jaspers, which examined the project from the point of view of European funds and requested a comprehensive assessment, which was not carried out because the Ministry allegedly gave a guarantee on the financing and Jaspers thus stopped insisting on it,” the Greens of Slovenia wrote.
Domen Mezeg
