The Minister of Environmental Protection in the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Irena Vujovic, stated today that this ministry, in order to reduce air pollution, will implement large projects this year to replace heating and reforestation boilers, and agreements have been signed with more than 50 cities and municipalities.
In a statement for the Tanjug agency, Vujovic stated that a department for cooperation with local self-government units had been formed in the Ministry, which turned out to be very good, considering that communication takes place regularly, they look at problems together and look for solutions.
As she explained, the projects are being realized from the budget of the Ministry, and the loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is being replaced by the city heating boiler in Kragujevac, which will be done by the end of the year.
According to her, that will bring great benefits to Kragujevac, because air pollution will be reduced to a minimum, and the ash dump, which is also a big problem, will be repaired.
The Minister reminded that in some cities, competitions for the replacement of heating boilers on public facilities such as schools, sports centers, cultural facilities, health facilities, etc. have been completed, so the boilers have either already been replaced or will be done in the future.
In order to receive funds for this purpose from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, local units had to fulfill two important conditions – one is for the connection for citizens to be free, and the other for the replacement to be done during this year, Vujovic explained.
Accordingly, she expressed the expectation that during the next heating season, the situation in those cities will be significantly better when it comes to air pollution.
She mentioned that the Ministry has also announced a competition for individual households, which will be conducted in several cities.
As she pointed out, the cities will make the selection themselves and determine which households are in dire need of a subsidy to replace the boiler rooms in their houses and switch to pellets or gas, if there is a gas network in the city.
Also, afforestation will be done, as an important segment of improving the purity of the air, and the interest of the municipalities for this competition of the Ministry was great, Vujovic emphasized.
She reminded that many cities and municipalities from Vojvodina were included in the projects, because the analyzes showed that Vojvodina was not sufficiently afforested, which is why there was criticism from the European Commission.
Speaking about the fight against air pollution, Vujovic said that the relevant ministry was determined to tackle this decades-long problem, stating that it had set aside funds in the budget for that purpose and conducted competitions.
She pointed out that there were many requests from municipalities for help and that they are now working intensively on projects in order to be ready and competitive for the next competitions that will be announced by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Also, as she pointed out, a large number of local governments are investing their funds, so it is expected that the first results will be seen this year and that we will breathe cleaner air, Tanjug reports.
