Radojevic: Amphitheater at Milic Brothers Square will be built, construction ban only temporary

North Mitrovica Mayor Milan Radojevic told Kosovo Online that the measure prohibiting construction of the amphitheater at Milic Brothers Square was only temporary and that work was under way to establish the facts regarding ownership of the parcel, adding that the amphitheater would be built as promised.

The Basic Court in Mitrovica issued a temporary measure against the Municipality of North Mitrovica, suspending construction work on the amphitheater in the city square. The decision followed a request by the Trepca company, which claims ownership rights over the parcels where the works had begun.

Radojevic said that a court-appointed expert and the municipal attorney had already visited the site and that efforts were under way to establish the facts on the ground.

“Pursuant to the court’s decision, a court-appointed expert, together with the municipal attorney, went to the site yesterday to verify the factual situation. What is important for us to tell all citizens is that the amphitheater construction project will continue and will be completed,” Radojevic stressed.

He noted that the project documentation had been prepared by the previous administration and that the municipality, together with its department directors, was ready to make the necessary amendments so that the project could be implemented in the coming period.

According to him, the court’s reaction was surprising because it imposed a temporary ban on the works on the same day it received the appeal, while, on the other hand, there had still been no response from the court to the criminal complaint concerning the demolition of garages in North Mitrovica, even though several months had passed since then.

He said that the only disputed issue concerning the open-air amphitheater project was Trepca’s claim that the project was being carried out on land belonging to the company.

Radojevic said that this concerned only two percent of the parcel and that this was precisely why experts were working to establish the facts.

“By examining the cadastral records, we established that the project overlaps with two percent of a parcel for which Trepca is registered as the user. We are talking about a square intended for all citizens, and only two percent of the entire project overlaps with part of that parcel. As the leadership of the Municipality of North Mitrovica, we believe this is a misunderstanding because, after all, this is a public area intended for all citizens and it should serve the interests of all citizens,” Radojevic said.

Radojevic said that the leadership of the Municipality of North Mitrovica remained open to all talks and agreements and that all issues should be discussed so that everything could be done in the interests of the citizens.

“We remain open to talks with Trepca’s management. Our goal is to work in the interests of all citizens. All outstanding issues should be resolved together, and we should identify a common interest that will be entirely to the benefit of all citizens of our municipality. Unilateral actions are not good and in no way contribute to stabilizing relations or the situation in the Municipality of North Mitrovica,” Radojevic concluded.