This afternoon, Kosovo Police halted road construction work in the Sunčana Dolina neighborhood. The suspension came after it was revealed that the construction contractor lacked the necessary permits.
A deputy commander of the Kosovo Police for the Northern Region Veton Elshani confirmed the development to KoSSev. He stated that the work was stopped because the contractor did not possess a valid permit, although he declined to provide further details, noting only that the case is under investigation concerning the legality of the road construction in the area.
Sunčana Dolina, a residential area that began accepting its first residents this year, remains under construction. The neighborhood, which is not yet fully occupied, primarily houses families with multiple children or those facing social hardships. The development has faced significant criticism within Kosovo. The Self-Determination movement, while in opposition, denounced it as an attempt at „colonization of Kosovo by Serbia.“ Previous Kosovan authorities also deemed the project illegal.
Kosovo authorities previously demanded that the municipality of Zvečan provide documentation for the project’s legalization. When the municipality failed to respond or prepare the required documents, the Kosovo Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning filed a lawsuit against it. However, the case was subsequently dismissed due to its expiration.
The „Sunčana Dolina“ project is an initiative of the Serbian government, announced in mid-2016 by Marko Đurić, then director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija. The project was initially intended to accommodate 1,500 returnee families and was supposed to be completed within 18 months. The deadline was missed, and during a visit to Kosovo in September 2018, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced that the first families would move in by Vidovdan.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
