On Monday, a protest for the protection of drinking water, or against the construction of the C0 sewerage channel (the so-called “shit pipeline”), took place in front of the Ljubljana Administrative Unit. Namely, on Monday, a hearing was held there on the issue of a building permit for the C0 sewerage channel. The organisers of the protest invited all protesters to the Ljubljana –Bežigrad Administrative Unit, located at Linhartova Street 13.
Aleš Primc, who has been organising regular rallies against the C0 sewerage channel in front of the City Hall in the past years, as well as activist Vili Kovačič, called for protests for clean drinking water.
“Come today at 8.00 a.m. and join us in front of the Ljubljana Administrative Unit, on Linhartova Street 13. Let’s defend the drinking water in our taps so that Janković and Golob don’t poison it,” Primc called on the social network X.
Meanwhile, the debate had already started. Later, Primc also wrote on the social network X: “The large debate hall of the Ljubljana Administrative Unit is full. We will not allow Janković to poison our drinking water!”
According to Metod Berlec, editor of the Demokracija magazine (Democracy), around 100 people gathered in front of the administrative unit.
The hearing was also scheduled for Tuesday, the 7th of January, but was cancelled, so Tuesday’s planned rally was cancelled as well.
The background of Monday’s rally
Opponents of the C0 sewerage channel argue that granting the construction permit, which was being discussed on Monday, “would allow Janković to finish the construction and start using the C0 sewerage channel, which would poison the water that more than 400,000 people drink.”
The organisers of the protest noted that mass participation would also send a message to officials that they are expected to act in accordance with the law and for the benefit of the people, who will be very significantly affected by the decisions they take. Whether clean or polluted water comes out of the tap has a crucial impact on everyone’s health. The organisers stressed that officials have a duty to protect the clean drinking water in our taps, and not poison it.
According to the organisers, the Municipality of Ljubljana has admitted “that it does not own or have an easement on the route for which they have applied for a building permit.” They said that the Administrative Unit was informed by the Municipality of Ljubljana that it was removing the land which it does not own or have an easement on from the building permit application. The protesters demanded that the Ljubljana Administrative Unit immediately cancel the illegal hearing and stop the building permit procedure, but the Ljubljana Administrative Unit wanted to continue the illegal procedure at all costs.
Illegal procedure before the Administrative Unit
The organisers of the rally – opponents of the construction of the C0 sewerage channel – believe that the convening of a hearing for the granting of a building permit at the Administrative Unit was illegal, because the Administrative Unit is not the competent authority for the granting of a building permit in the so-called integral procedure, where the decision should actually be taken by the competent ministry. The Municipality of Ljubljana does not own all the land and does not have an easement over all the land for which it has applied for a building permit; if the route is changed, a new procedure must be initiated.
They also pointed out that no environmental impact assessment has been carried out, and no environmental consent has been obtained. The Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO) decisions of 2015 and 2016 that no environmental impact assessment is required are not final.
The decision of Tina Seršen that the C0 sewerage channel with a concrete duct channel does not require an environmental impact assessment is not final and is also illegal, as found by the Administrative Inspectorate, because it was issued by a person who is not competent, who does not fulfil the educational requirements and has not passed the examination on the Administrative Code. They also pointed out that “it is clear to any normal person, and is also prohibited by law, that 3,000,000 litres of hazardous sewage are transported every day through drinking water catchment areas.”
As the debate before the Administrative Unit was open to the public and the hall can seat up to 90 people, protesters were invited to watch the debate live.
The appeal by organiser Vili Kovačič, which he posted on the social network X, reads as follows:
“Calling on all those responsible who are turning a blind eye to this issue!
All current and former responsible people – the first President of the country, Milan Kučan, former Presidents Danilo Türk, Borut Pahor, and the current President of the Republic Nataša Pirc Musar, and all former champions of clean drinking water, Dušan Plut, Miro Cerar and Anže Logar, wake up and raise your voice in defence of the public good and public health, which is irreversibly threatened by the mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković. He is endangering it with his private and illegal investment – without a building permit, without the environmental consent and without an environmental impact assessment. Namely, this is the largest illegal construction project in Slovenia – the C0 sewerage channel! We repeat: it is the largest illegal construction project in Slovenia, and at the same time, a crime against nature – it is ecocide. We also call on the Members of the first convocation of the National Assembly of 1990-1992 to wake up and get involved!
And last but not least, a call for everyone else: where are all the others on the public stage – MEP Vladimir Prebilič and the Vesna (green) party, Uroš Macerl and the European pro-abortion campaigner Nika Kovač, once a front-row fighter for the Water Referendum?
There is still time to raise your voice against the irreversible consequences of the C0 sewerage channel! Above all, remind all workers in the administrative units that the issuing of illegal decisions and permits by unauthorised persons is a first-class criminal offence.
We call for legality and constitutionality! The same legality is owed to us by the many lawyers who are using our – taxpayers’ – money to legalise Mayor Janković’s private and extremely damaging investment – for the benefit of Mayor Janković. They are trying to obtain a building permit without an environmental impact assessment and without the water protection consent.
And last but not least, we are calling on the most responsible of all those responsible – Prime Minister Robert Golob and his former Minister of Natural Resources, now MP Uroš Brežan, and current Minister Jože Novak. Slovenia cannot and must not remain a victim of an irresponsible mayor and of people who have gained power in order to rule us illegally and illegitimately and who are destroying the well-being of nature. Let us stop the ecocide that is happening in plain sight and in a mockery of common sense.
The Commission of Inquiry working in the National Assembly should complete its work and hand over its conclusions and materials to the State Prosecutor General and the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office.”
I. K
