Activists from the Civic Initiative “Ohrid SOS” and the Ecological Association of Citizens “Front 21/42” have issued an Open Letter urging competent institutions to prevent the construction of a hotel complex at the “Gorica 3” location.
The associations allege that the hotel complex of Develop Group is being constructed with an illegal Construction Permit issued by the Municipality of Ohrid in 2012, lacking a mandatory environmental impact assessment (EIA) and the required approval from the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning.
They claim the current construction violates the Constitution, laws, and international law, enabled by responsible institutions, and point to a series of legal violations and potential crimes committed by the institutions and Develop Group DOOEL Skopje, and are requesting the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption and the Public Prosecutor’s Office to investigate all the allegations and initiate appropriate procedures against all persons involved.
The activists detail several points of contention: the lack of a valid Construction Permit, the absence of an approved environmental report, the State Environmental Inspectorate’s (SEI) alleged assistance in enabling the illegal construction, the illegal urban plan on which the construction is based, the failure of the SEI and the Environmental Administration to order amendments to the urban plan, and the construction’s contradiction with the Constitution and international agreements.
They demand the Government, the Ministry of Environment, and the Municipality of Ohrid immediately cease construction, remove the building, restore the natural environment, declare the Construction Permit null and void, annul the existing urban plan, adopt a decision to terminate the application of acts allowing urban transformation of the coast of Lake Ohrid, and conduct a comprehensive assessment of the cumulative impact of all infrastructure and development plans.