The public water management company Ibar-Lepenc/Ibër-Lepenci has continued delivering notices to residents of villages along Lake Gazivode/Ujmani as part of what lawyers describe as an arbitrary procedure concerning properties in the area, KoSSev has learned.
Following similar notices served in Rezale and to several households in Kovače, requiring residents to submit proof of ownership within seven days, property owners in Kovače have now begun receiving a second type of notice, giving them 15 days to vacate properties that the company claims belong to Iber-Lepenc.
According to KoSSev’s findings, at least 16 cadastral parcels and more than 20 structures in Kovače have been covered by the latest notices ordering the removal of buildings within 15 days.
At the same time, Dragutin Nenezić, a legal professional assisting some of the affected residents, says the procedure consists of two distinct stages, warning that a request to submit ownership documents should not be confused with an eviction notice.
Nenezić explained to KoSSev that the first document – the one recently delivered to residents of Rezale – requests that property owners submit documentation proving ownership of their buildings within seven days.
According to him, some residents of Rezale have already submitted the requested documents. They were reportedly told by representatives of Iber-Lepenc that the company itself does not make the final decisions in the process.
„There are two types of notices. The first requests ownership documentation within seven days. Residents of Rezale have already submitted those documents. They were told that Iber-Lepenc does not make the decisions and that the competent institutions do,“ Nenezić said.
According to him, the second stage involves a separate notice giving the owner 15 days to vacate the property before any potential demolition.
„A notice of that kind had previously been delivered in the case of the hotel. As far as I understand, there is now information that one such notice has also been served in Kovače, but I still have not seen that document and therefore cannot comment on its contents,“ he added.
Nenezić says the information available to him indicates that the procedure is continuing and that notices are now being delivered to residents of other villages around Gazivode.
„The point is that they have continued moving forward. They are going from village to village. Just as in Rezale, these are not only weekend cottages. There are houses where people once lived, and some may still be inhabited today,“ he said.
KoSSev’s latest findings come only days after the demolition of the „Jezero“ Hotel on Lake Gazivode, carried out by workers of Iber-Lepenc with the assistance of the Kosovo Police.
Following the demolition, acting Minister of Environment Fitore Pacolli announced that 17 structures had been removed in the Gazivode area and said the operation would continue „without compromise.“ Ibar-Lepenc/Ibër-Lepenci Director Faruk Mujka maintained that the demolished structures had been located on land owned by the public company.
On the other hand, owners of demolished buildings have challenged the legality of the procedure, arguing that they were never presented with a legal basis for the demolitions. Several civil society organizations from northern Kosovo have also called on the competent institutions to investigate the legality of the operation.
Some property owners had already initiated legal proceedings against Ibar-Lepenc/Ibër-Lepenci before their buildings were demolished. Among them is the Jakšić family, which filed legal action against the company over the „Jezero“ Hotel. However, the hotel was demolished before the first scheduled court hearing.
Before the demolition of the hotel and a number of weekend houses, residents of Rezale received notices requiring them to submit proof of ownership within seven days. According to KoSSev’s latest findings, the process has now expanded to the neighboring village of Kovače, where property owners have begun receiving notices giving them 15 days to restore their buildings to their previous condition or vacate the properties before the company proceeds with their removal.
Kovače, where the latest removal notices have been served, borders Rezale. Both villages are predominantly inhabited by Kosovo Serbs. In recent years, the village has also become home to a Kosovo Police base, located in the renovated premises of a former brush factory near the boundary between Rezale, Kovače, and Čečevo. A recently established search-and-rescue training camp, visited by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, is also located in the area.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
