The Deputy Mayor of Belgrade, Goran Vesic, announced that he would send a proposal to the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the most urgent amendment to the Law on Planning and Construction.
One of the important things that will be initiated is to introduce the obligation of the investor to have a policy of insurance against damage to third parties.
He specified that the citizens from the collapsed building in Vracar were temporarily accommodated in the “Slavija” hotel, and that a meeting on the permanent solution of their problem is expected tomorrow.
“Citizens will be compensated for the damage. There are two possibilities for that, one for the investor to do it himself, and the other for the city to do it and then compensate the investor. Thank God no one was hurt, but you should know that citizens ran out of their homes without documents and basic things. The building is guarded by the police together with the Communal Police, and the construction inspection ordered the urgent repair of the pit that caused the demolition. We are waiting for the findings of experts whether the building can be entered at all so that citizens with firefighters can pick up their things. In order to organize the relocation of furniture, the citizens will not stay in the hotel for long, we will rent apartments for them, the rent of which will have to be paid by the investor, until their issue is permanently resolved,” Vesic said.
When it comes to the initiative to change the mentioned law, Vesic specified that, if it is adopted, the investor will not be able to get a building permit until he has an insurance policy.
“If it existed, now the insurance would pay for all the damage. Also, the City will ask for the persons who perform supervision to have a professional liability insurance policy in case of damage to a third party when obtaining a license,” said Vesic.
The deputy mayor also announced an intensified inspection control of the construction site, but that it is impossible to constantly control more than two thousand construction sites, which is why he appealed for conscientious and responsible work.
“For a specific case in Vidovdanska Street, criminal charges have been filed against investors, supervisors, contractors, many of them have already given statements and now it is up to the prosecution to initiate criminal proceedings and determine responsibility. No one was injured, but the material damage is hug,” Vesic pointed out.
Vesic also announced that he would initiate the introduction of a rule in the law that before obtaining a use permit, every investor must provide proof of the movement of construction waste. The goal of the latter is to solve the problem of “wild landfills” and illegal dumping of construction waste anywhere in the city, Vesic concluded, B92 reports.
