Old Sava bridge in Belgrade has been formally closed to traffic since midnight, the Secretariat for Traffic announced and urged Belgraders not to use it.
The press release states that on October 29, in accordance with the request of the Directorate for Building Land and Construction of Belgrade, the Secretariat issued a Decision approving the proposed temporary traffic regime, in which it was indicated that from Saturday, November 2, the preparatory work on dismantling of the Old Sava bridge.
Photo: Marko Dragoslavić/FoNetProtest against the demolition of the bridge in front of the Faculty of Philosophy / Photo: Marko Dragoslavić/FoNet
An on-site inspection on November 1 found that adequate physical barriers were not installed to stop traffic on the Old Sava Bridge, which was the responsibility of the Directorate, which practically jeopardized the safety of all those who now use the bridge for movement.
The Secretariat appeals to the Directorate to do its legal part in order to prevent an accident on the bridge, and therefore to inform all Belgrade residents that the use of the Old Sava bridge is at their own risk and urges them not to use it, but to respect the adequate traffic signals that will direct them to other safe directions.
Shifting responsibility to the Chinese
The Directorate for Urban Building Land of the City of Belgrade announced that, in accordance with its contractual obligations, on November 1, it introduced the contractor "Power Tea" into the work, which had the obligation to physically close the Old Sava Bridge to traffic and take all necessary measures for the work to begin safely on November 2.
With its inaction, "Power Tea" directly endangers the safety of citizens, so the Directorate sent an official request to close the bridge to traffic as soon as possible and to take all measures to prevent any accidents or tragedies.
If the same is not implemented, and something happens, "Power teahouse" as a contractor, according to the decision of the Secretariat for Transport, will be directly responsible, since it did not fulfill its legal obligations, the Directorate announced.
Suspend the work on removing the bridge
A member of the Presidency of the Serbia Center Party (SRCE), Boško Šindić, asked the authorities to immediately stop all work on the removal of the Old Sava Bridge and call for tenders for its phased reconstruction.
"Just one day after the unprecedented tragedy in Novi Sad, Mayor Aleksandar Šapić taught the citizens of Belgrade another important lesson by sending machines to the bridge - for SNS, there is nothing stronger than the smell of money." For them, corruption is a blood stream", said Šindic in a written statement.
"The citizens of Belgrade are witnessing that what they supposedly reconstructed collapses every day, the blocks are moved every month, people die from falling wheels, the city traffic is about to collapse because they assigned each other the job of public transport", concluded Šindić.
"The fight continues, the bridge remains"
Before the beginning of the dismantling of the bridge, activists from the association "The Bridge Remains" organized a protest on the Old Sava Bridge, and individuals spent the night there, saying that they would "defend" it and that they were "determined" to spend days and nights there in order not to prevent for the machines to begin removing the bridge.
Most_ostaje_53Photo: FoNet/TV FoNet
"We are asking for the bridge to remain functional, for tram lines and cars to continue to run because if all that stops, we will enter a traffic collapse," Đorđe Miketić from this civic initiative told Nova.rs after he and a group of people spent the night near the bridge. .
He invites the mayor of Belgrade, Aleksandar Šapić, to come and organize a public debate with the citizens.
"Maybe we are wrong, let him explain to us what the idea is and prove it all with documents," says Miketić.
Why is the bridge being moved?
The city authorities previously announced that the Old Sava Bridge is being demolished due to the "Small Metro" project and that a new one will be installed in its place.
Representatives of the initiative "The Bridge Remains" state that Belgrade has not adopted a new General Urban Plan, that "there is no Justification Study for the bridge removal project", and according to the current one from 2016, the removal of any bridge over the Sava River was not foreseen.
