A notorious waste dump outside Mostar has been on fire for days – as locals pay the price for years of inaction by the authorities in the politically-troubled city.
Ljupko Miseljic
The landfill is located five kilometres from the centre of Mostar, a tourism gem of Bosnia and Herzegovina best known for its landmark Old Bridge.
But even in the city centre, the impact of the fire is being felt. “The air is terrible, especially for those of us working out on the street all day,” said one woman who works in the tourism industry in the city.
“Especially in the morning and at night, we are suffocating here. Those responsible must resolve this immediately,” she added.
Environmental activist Omer Hujdur lives much closer to the fire, just 200 metres from the landfill. As he gets ready for work in the southern part of the city, he suffers headaches and nausea. A doctor’s report confirmed poisoning three days ago. Today is the fifth day he will go to work with these symptoms.
“We haven’t opened the windows for five days. No one wants the smoke, even though it’s in every house. It bothers everyone, especially the elderly people who refused to evacuate, like my parents. They are suffering, but they’re still hoping for some solution, though it seems there won’t be one for a long time,” Hujdur said.
Over the last decade, local activists have protested about the landfill multiple times. But Mario Kordic, Mayor of Mostar, accuses the activists of worsening the situation.
“One cannot ignore the long-standing role of the Jer nas se tiče [Because It Concerns Us] initiative in halting the landfill remediation process,” a city council press release published on June 23 said.
“For years, the Adjustment Plan and environmental permit have been challenged, and administrative disputes and appeals have been filed that directly slowed down remediation and the expansion of capacity,” it alleged.
Jer nas se tiče, the NGO that Hujdur works with, won court cases over the Waste Management Plan for Uborak, which was opaque and unclear, and subsequently, over the environmental permit for the landfill. The Cantonal Court in Sarajevo issued both rulings in favour of the activists in December 2022.
The city authorities have justified the current situation by citing nine years of inactivity by the City Council from 2012 to 2021, caused by a dispute between political parties representing the city’s Bosniaks and Croats, which paralysed municipal institutions. This also prevented the adoption of spatial planning documentation that would have resolved the issue of waste disposal, the city authorities say.
Omer Hujdur received information from a friend that the landfill was on fire on Monday morning. His friend had spoken to workers who had been repairing a forklift truck 45 minutes earlier. When the landfill workers called them to say that the forklift was on fire, they were shocked, Hujdur said.
When he reached the landfill, thick black smoke already covered Uborak.
“The wind was carrying smoke in all directions, fire was spreading outside the landfill, everyone around was terrified. Landfill workers and firefighters were chaotically racing to try to stop the fire,” Hujdur recalled.
A local who asked to remain anonymous said he photographed the landfill on June 13, nine days before the fire started.
He claimed the photographs show that it had not been properly covered with soil for a long time, even though this is one of the basic measures to prevent fires, the spread of foul odour and other environmental problems.
The Federation entity Inspectorate had previously banned further waste disposal at the Uborak site. Despite this, waste disposal had continued. The management of the Deponija public company, which runs the landfill, was sent a plan for the site’s permanent closure back in 2023 – but it has not been implemented.
One fire goes out, another starts
