WHEN A CITY BECOMES A TOY: Stanivuković doesn't need building permits

Banja Luka got its largest roundabout, announced the Mayor of Banja Luka, Draško Stanivuković, on December 9, after visiting the location near "Ekvator". He emphasized, as reported by the media, that this "intersection has opened up a completely new dimension for the city".

"Our idea was primarily traffic functionality, which we achieved. Here, we have a large roundabout with several islands inside, all of which effectively handle traffic in this part of the city", he explained and continued: "One of Banja Luka's greatest landmarks, the Kastel fortress, visible from this roundabout, will finally be illuminated".

In his enthusiasm for construction, he omitted a crucial fact – how he obtained the building permit. While the construction was well underway, he handled everything himself at the city Department of Spatial Planning.

The construction site was opened with the first shovel in mid-September. Although he had no accompanying documents, Stanivuković took pride in the work, and then the Republic Urban Planning and Construction Inspection entered the scene. In the political skirmish between the SNSD parliamentary majority and the mayor, who transferred disputes from the city parliament to the streets, in the pre-election campaign that evidently started long before its time for all actors, the law was on the side of the republic inspectors. The construction site was marked with red tape, and it was sealed. The city appealed, but the appeal was rejected.

Nearly two months later, on November 7, the city authorities announced that not only do they have a building permit, but it is also legally binding. They claimed that Vlado Đajić, the president of the City Board of the SNSD, and Srđan Amidžić, the current Minister of Finance of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the SNSD, were behind the sabotage.

"According to the valid regulatory plan on which the building permit for the 'Ekvator' building was issued, the construction of a roundabout is planned", stated the City Administration, and in defence of the mayor, his right-hand man, Vuk Višekruna, the authorized signatory from the Department of Spatial Planning, spoke up.

Three days later, the criminal police knocked on the mayor's office door. He laughed loudly, he said and pointed out that Ljubo Ninković, the SNSD president of the city assembly, initiated the process of revoking the permit. On the same day, the responsible minister, Bojan Vipotnik, whose ministry confirmed the findings of the republic inspectors, who ordered the demolition and restoration to the original state due to the lack of necessary documentation on time, commented:

"I wouldn't speculate on whether the construction works on the roundabout in the centre of Banja Luka will continue, or if everything will be demolished and returned to its original state because now everything is in the hands of the republic inspection".

Demolition did not occur, and drivers were navigating through the newly opened roundabout.

ILLEGALITY EVEN THROUGH THE RAKES

Stanivuković, who was once a legalist in his campaign, invoking laws and procedures, is not in a hurry with paperwork. The roundabout near "Ekvator" is not the only example in his three-year rule over the city.

"In the attachment, we provide you with photos before and after the reconstruction of King Aleksandar I Karađorđević Street. We remind you that Mayor Draško Stanivuković will visit the reconstructed King Aleksandar I Karađorđević Street today at 4 p.m".

This was a weekend announcement for October 7, 2023, delivered to journalists via email addresses from the Banja Luka City Administration. The Journal's question about whether the mayor, before inspecting the road, as he didn't do before the start of construction, obtained the necessary building permit, was, as usual, ignored.

And he didn't obtain it. To this day, he hasn't completed the procedure that should have been done before starting construction. Neither the mayor nor the relevant departments, to which the correspondence was forwarded, were willing to publicly discuss the violated laws on spatial planning and construction in Republika Srpska and public roads in Republika Srpska. Builders, in a conversation with Žurnal, cited two reasons for such behaviour – either property rights on the road through Motike are not resolved, or it is arrogance, characteristic of both the current and past city authorities.

According to the earlier beliefs of Stanivuković's team, where modernization and reconstruction are the same, no permit is needed for such works because it could be considered regular maintenance. However, on the mentioned road through the Motike settlement, Stanivuković has new road facilities, such as a bridge.

By the same logic, the previous SNSD government paved roads in villages for the needs of election campaigns. If we were to observe how those they elected work, even the citizens of Banja Luka building houses wouldn't have to obtain building permits because, quite absurdly, they could claim to be modernizing a meadow.

However, both Stanivuković and everyone working outside the regulations are subject to the laws, starting with the Law on Spatial Planning and Construction of Republika Srpska. Article 2. Then, the Law on Public Roads of Republika Srpska. Article 23, Paragraph 2.

4.5 MILLION KM FOR ILLEGAL WORKS ON MILANOVIĆ'S HOUSE

Not long ago, Stanivuković, along with representatives of the International Monetary Fund, toured Milanović's house in the city centre.

"The restoration of this building represents one of the largest investments in culture in the past period. After the completion of the works, we will have the first cultural centre in Banja Luka – since the time of Ban Tisa Milosavljević. With representatives of the IMF, we visited the facility and were convinced of the quality and strong dynamics of the works", he emphasized.

After the complete renovation, totalling 4.5 million KM, this place will bring together artists.

However, even this project was completed by the city authorities without the necessary building permit.

THE KIOSK THAT SWALLOWED 53 MILLION KM

There was no permit even for the construction of a tennis complex for hosting the "Srpska Open" tournament. The public has been waiting since the beginning of the year for the leaders of the Tennis Association of Republika Srpska to address them and explain the construction without documentation and completed tender procedures. Although the Prime Minister of Republika Srpska, Radovan Višković, stated that the government provided 28 million KM, earlier calculations by the President of Republika Srpska, Milorad Dodik, told a different story.

On April 11, it was announced that the RS government "boosted" the grant to the Tennis Association of RS from two to seven million KM. Until then, it was assumed that, without any conducted tender procedures, 30 million KM had been spent. Four days later, on April 15, President Milorad Dodik spoke out:

"The RS government has so far provided 34 million KM on that plan, and the city of Banja Luka 11 million KM. If it weren't for all of us, there would be no tournament".

34 million KM + 11 million KM = 45 million KM!

Six days later, on April 21, the figure grew again. For the new injection into the incredibly expensive project, whose profitability is highly questionable, the General Secretary of the ruling SNSD and the Director of Elektroprivreda RS, Luka Petrović, were responsible.

"On the proposal of the General Director Luka Petrović, a donation of two million marks was approved for the tournament. The decision was made by the Supervisory Board of the company through a special procedure. The money will be paid from the remaining budget for donations from 2022. The Government of Republika Srpska approved this transfer. According to the established practice, this was omitted from the agenda as well as from the public statement after the session", wrote the Capital portal.

34 million KM + 17 million KM + 2 million KM = 53 million KM!

The explanation for not conducting tenders was that the Tennis Association of RS is not a contracting authority and is not subject to the Law on Public Procurement of Bosnia and Herzegovina, so everything was done without any legal procedure. Public money was transferred to the Association's account, and it further disposed of it as it wished. The tennis complex was built outside the regulatory plan, while construction works were "covered" by a permit for preparatory works. These tasks were paid to a consortium of companies led by the Prnjavor-based "Gradip".

Stanivuković then claimed that all permits for the construction of the complex were secured, but the president of the Tennis Association, Draško Milinović, admitted:

"What we don't have at this moment and what we didn't have last month is your absolute and legitimate right to point out, but I explain to you that we didn't enter this story headlong, and we work day and night because it involves thousands and thousands of papers".

CITIZENS, EXPERTISE, BANJA LUKA

In the last three years, the city of Banja Luka has completely transformed its appearance. Illegal construction, the architecturally and construction-wise controversial taste of the mayor and his team, subsequent permit issuances, changing regulatory plans, and favouritism towards tycoons have become commonplace. The urban plan, although completed, is not on the agenda because it would significantly limit the current possibilities of the city authorities.

Professors from the Banja Luka Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering spoke about investor urbanism in May of last year. The occasion was the so-called "hole", a location in the city centre where the tycoon from Mrkonjić Grad, Mladen Milanović Kaja, built a huge residential and business complex.

"The initiative to change a part of the regulatory plan is entirely illegitimate (although legal) and is based solely and exclusively on the intention of the city administration to meet the maximalist demands of speculative construction, to the obvious detriment of public interest... Instead of respecting the competition, procedures, continuity, and good taste, we got a comic and offensive play of allegedly choosing the 'conceptual solution,' which concealed the almost double increase in the number of floors above the so-called 'hole.' The new Draft plan not only approves 10, 11 (in practice, even more) floors at the given location but adds one or two additional floors to all other construction markers in the block. Over the streets of Bana Lazarevića and Srpska, with only legal exceedances, nine to ten above-ground floors will hover (ground floor, six or seven floors, one possible additional, and a setback floor, almost identical to a regular one)", they wrote in an open letter.

And that is precisely what Banja Luka got.

CITIZENS, EXPERTISE, BANJA LUKA

In the last three years, the city of Banja Luka has completely transformed its appearance. Illegal construction, the architecturally and construction-wise controversial taste of the mayor and his team, subsequent permit issuances, changing regulatory plans, and favouritism towards tycoons have become commonplace. The urban plan, although completed, is not on the agenda because it would significantly limit the current possibilities of the city authorities.

Professors from the Banja Luka Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering spoke about investor urbanism in May of last year. The occasion was the so-called "hole", a location in the city centre where the tycoon from Mrkonjić Grad, Mladen Milanović Kaja, built a huge residential and business complex.

 "The initiative to change a part of the regulatory plan is entirely illegitimate (although legal) and is based solely and exclusively on the intention of the city administration to meet the maximalist demands of speculative construction, to the obvious detriment of public interest... Instead of respecting the competition, procedures, continuity, and good taste, we got a comic and offensive play of allegedly choosing the 'conceptual solution,' which concealed the almost double increase in the number of floors above the so-called 'hole.' The new Draft plan not only approves 10, 11 (in practice, even more) floors at the given location but adds one or two additional floors to all other construction markers in the block. Over the streets of Bana Lazarevića and Srpska, with only legal exceedances, nine to ten above-ground floors will hover (ground floor, six or seven floors, one possible additional, and a setback floor, almost identical to a regular one)", they wrote in an open letter.

And that is precisely what Banja Luka got.

Public discussions in the City Administration were attended by activist Ozren Perduv. Today, he bitterly comments on the new Banja Luka:

"It would be very interesting to see what the former Stanivuković would do if he were still in the role of the supposed first opposition figure in the city, and everything he is doing now in the city is done by the SNSD. To many, including myself, it seems like he is playing with our city as if it were a child's toy. A compliant puppet in the hands of big capital and tycoons. Because of that compliance and servility, he can do whatever he wants, however, he wants, so it's not surprising that things are done without any permits. Such people don't need permits. And it's no wonder that they consider them just some formalities. Imagine an ordinary citizen of this city behaving in the same way. Of course, the inspection would appear very quickly, prohibit further activities, and order the removal of what has been done. But in this society, the rules are not the same for everyone. You citizens have to respect laws and procedures, but we, whom you elected and paid and who are supposed to serve you - we don't have to respect the rules. They ridicule us shamelessly and shamefully, and unfortunately, - everything goes unpunished. For now. Criminal charges have been filed for the illegal works of the city authorities, but as I said - I don't believe in the judicial outcome of all that because the big capital, the city authorities, and the parliamentary majority are synchronized, acting to the detriment of the city's budget and for their personal benefit and the benefit of those they serve. And those certainly aren't the citizens", he told Žurnal.

The city of Banja Luka ignored Žurnal's questions:

1. Did the Mayor of Banja Luka, Draško Stanivuković, subsequently obtain a building permit for the reconstruction of King Aleksandar I Karađorđević Street? Were unresolved property rights the reason for violating the laws on spatial planning and construction in Republika Srpska and public roads in Republika Srpska?
2. Why was the roundabout near "Ekvator" built without a building permit?
3. According to Mayor Stanivuković, the renovation of Milanović's house will cost about 4.5 million KM. Why was no building permit obtained for this property?
4. Since he announced that this is the decade of construction in Banja Luka, does this mean that every building will be constructed or reconstructed without accompanying documentation? Does this also mean that citizens do not have to obtain documentation for construction, for example, individual structures?

(zurnal.info)