City authorities in Banja Luka are obstructing the removal of illegal buildings

Due to long-term obstructions, the authorities are avoiding the demolition of the illegal building of the cafe bar “News” and part of the hotel Damjan in Banja Luka.

Banja Luka, 18. April 2019 – Two years ago, the illegally built facility of the cafe bar “News” in Jevrejska Street in Banja Luka was supposed to be removed, but the authorities in the City Administration deliberately postponed it so that the investor could continue to benefit at the expense of the public interest. Therefore, Transparency International in BiH (TIBiH) has filed criminal charges against several officials from the Banja Luka City Administration for illegally delaying the demolition of the facility.

The city authorities are still 2016. found that the building was built illegally by occupying public space without the approval of the competent authority, but the demolition did not occur because the investor submitted a request for legalization of the building. The Urban Construction Inspectorate finally orders the investor in March 2017. to demolish the disputed building, but the enforcement is postponed until a decision is made on the request for legalization. The verdict of the District Court in Banja Luka also rejected the lawsuit of the investor due to the legalization of the disputed facility, and the court concludes that a subsequent construction permit cannot be issued for an illegal facility built on a public area. Compulsory execution was scheduled by the authorities only for August 16, 2018. year, which again was not implemented, because the day before the request for legalization was submitted again.

TI BiH considers that this is a big omission of the authorities, because contrary to the Law on Spatial Planning and Construction of RS, the Urban and Construction Inspection again postponed the demolition until the end of the legalization procedure, which should not have happened, because the request was rejected once. confirmed by a final court judgment. TI BiH points out that the request for legalization of the same facility cannot be submitted indefinitely and thus postpone the removal. It is also interesting that the Inspectorate did not act in accordance with its powers from the Law on Inspections of the RS, and issued a misdemeanor order against the investor for the construction of the disputed facility without a building permit.

The Ombudsman for Human Rights of BiH has already pointed out the obstructions of the removal of this facility, which recommended the city authorities to immediately take all measures to implement the decision on the demolition of the facility, because all deadlines were greatly exceeded.

The saga regarding the removal of the illegally placed M: tel base station on the roof of the Hotel Damjan in Banja Luka has been going on for too long, which again affects the investor, despite numerous complaints from citizens who addressed TIBiH through the Center for Free Legal Aid . In the legalization procedure, it was determined that the base station was located outside the cadastral parcel, but the final decision on removal was not made because in the meantime it was determined that one floor of the hotel was built illegally, so the issue must be resolved first.

The request for legalization of that part of the hotel was rejected in September 2018. year, but the illegally built part has not been removed to this day. Only after the inquiry of TIBiH, an inspection control was conducted on March 19, 2019. year and a decision was made to demolish the upgraded part of the hotel, which, according to the City Administration, will be carried out in the coming period. Execution of this solution will be crucial for the final solution of the problems of citizens who opposed the installation of the base station.

In both cases, it is noticeable that the authorities react only after TIBiH has requested information and acts in accordance with the competencies, which further leads to suspicion that law enforcement is deliberately obstructed in order for the investor to continue to profit from illegally constructed facilities.

Press rls – 04/18/2019