26 August 2010
On 03.02.2009, in the premises of the Municipal Assembly in Mitrovica, organized by UNDP and REC office in Kosovo, a public debate was held on Mitigating Industrial Hotspots in Mitrovica - public awareness. Participants in this debate also included Bajram Rexhepi, Chairman of the Municipal Assembly of Mitrovica, Ilir Morina - Chief Executive of the Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency, as well as other participants.
In this debate, the citizens were interested in being informed by the authorities about the level of environmental pollution in Mitrovica and the surrounding area as well as the possibilities for addressing this situation. Ilir Morina – Chief Executive Officer of the Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency – answered many questions from the interested parties, which were related to the environmental problems faced by Mitrovica, such as: the remediation of industrial landfills, pollution of the Ibar river waters with waste, resolving the issue of chemicals stored in the Trepça plant departments, providing economic operators with environmental permits, publishing reports related to the level of pollution by various organizations, the lack of offices and a regional environmental coordinator in this municipality, and even requests for more frequent visits by central institutions.
Also, ideas were given by the attendees that Mitrovica should be treated with priority in future projects aimed at addressing environmental problems, and it was requested that the Mitrovica meteorological station be equipped with the necessary instruments and staff to monitor the environmental situation. In this public debate, three presentations were also presented: