CoFESsions Episode 1: Omer Hujdur (Jer nas se tiče) / Uborak Landfill

Even though the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina has recently reported that the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) has directed the administration of city of Mostar to shut down the landfill in the upcoming 3 years, there is no doubt that the Uborak landfill has already had detrimental effects on the health of people and the environment near Mostar, and subsequently the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina. For ConFESsions, Omer Hujdur higlighted that the citizens' struggle to shut down the landfill is far from being over.

The full episode is available on the official ConFESsions YouTube channel.

The citizens are also being sued for over 600 000 BAM in damages for blocking the operation of the landfill. Omer Hujdur stated that:“The struggles of locals to shut down the garbage dump has been ongoing since 2015. First, we tried with petitions, sent them to all possible addresses. When they turned a blind eye, when we saw that we have no answer, we were forced to go out and block the landfill in 2019. Mostly locals participated in the protests, but some people from the city as well. First we were beaten here by the police, then we faced criminal charges. Students and retired people over 70 years old ended up in court, with no prior contact with either police or court whatsoever. Unfortunatelly, that is the system that we live in.“

For more information about the ConFESsions Podcast, take a look at https://soe.fes.de/features/confessions-podcastour website.