Authorities in Neum are giving up millions in parking revenues in favor of a local official of the leading party that controls this tourist town on the Adriatic, violating the laws and hiding from the public the actual area of public spaces he rents out to a private individual and the fees he charges.
Wastewater from the Mostar landfill contains a high concentration of arsenic, which could pollute the environment in the long run and cause serious diseases among the local population.
Justice institutions are investigating the operations of the company Lager from Posušje due to deals worth around four million BAM. The company has been suspected of delivering altered machines to customers instead of new ones.
By favoring of authorities, the company Lager from Posušje was awarded concessions for the exploitation of natural resources in BiH, but it does not fully honor its obligations and it owes concession fees.
Originally conceived as a lifeline for endangered natural resources, “clean electricity” plants have become a counter and a source of safe and easy income for private individuals.
Due to the undetermined boundaries between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, 3,600 hectares of land along the Drina river is beyond the control of institutions of either side. This absence of authority suits the local politicians who illegally mine the gravel in this area.
Uncontrolled commercial exploitation, private interests and the lack of government preservation efforts have endangered natural heritage sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The City of Sarajevo is building a business and hospitality center in the forest reserve on Mt. Trebević, even though the building is located in a protected area where such construction is forbidden.
Trnovo municipality arranged for the illegal cutting of 3.5 hectares of forest where it planned to build sport courts, apartment complexes and a hotel. Most of the wood the municipality sold or gave away to private firms. Reporters could not track down what happened with the remainder.
Over the past 16 years, the Sarajevo Cantonal authorities have done little to reign in the unauthorized use of thermal spring water by a hotel complex and spa resort in Ilidža at a cost of millions of KM in fees.
Illegal gravel operations have eroded the river beds in the Republika Srpska. Firms and individuals who are not licensed to dig gravel have not only appropriated this public good, but also threaten the security of local communities living near these rivers. Officials are aware of this issue, but are doing nothing to solve it.
Tihomir Brajković owns three small hydropower plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He plans to build another six. He was convicted of tax evasion, yet having received a license to exploit natural resources he now collects renewable energy subsidies worth millions.
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