The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection estimates the yesterday's reaction of the Belgrade City Administration to the Protector of Citizens’ and Information Commissioner's request to provide the public all relevant information regarding the fire at the Vinca landfill as an expression of the total misunderstanding of the position and role of a local self-government authority or even something worse than that.
It is unprofessional for the City Administration, which has in some other instances, even after paying fines, concealed information from the public, which is a legitimate subject of its interest, to speak about alleged transparency of its actions, on any occasion. The statements that the Protector of Citizen and Commissioner’s appeal is ‘’nonsensical’’ are unacceptable and indecent, and the imputations that they are ‘’malevolently spreading panic—are particularly low and below any and the lowest level of communication.
If anything is nonsensical, it is precisely the reaction of the City Administration and its reference to the notorious fact that "data are already available and published" on the website of the City.
The Commissioner's reminder of the liabilities laid down in the Law on Environmental Protection concerns the liability of "complete and objective informing” and such informing implies something more than publishing facts which give the impression that "everything is fine".
Regardless of the content of the published data, without prejudice to their accuracy, objective and complete informing should not ignore the fact that highly competent experts have indicated that the monitoring that is being carried out and the published data do not include some elements, which can be extremely dangerous to human health.
The City Administration should be aware that it is liable to deny or expressly deny suspicions or confirm them and, in addition, to announce the objective or subjective reasons why the monitoring does not include those elements.
Finally, the Administration should also be aware of the fact that, since the fire at the Vinca landfill has not been extinguished even more than a month later, it owes to the public much more information that the information that some foreign companies’ ‘’bids are being received’’. The information on the grounds, scope, scope of environmental protection tasks and projects, which will be entrusted to these or other companies, is an absolutely legitimate subject of public interest. This is a precondition and requirement, of both objective informing and compliance with the citizens’ statutory right to participate in decision-making on issues of importance for the environment. That is, ultimately, the authorities’ liability defined by the constitutional guarantee of everyone's entitlement to a healthy environment and timely and complete information about the state of environment.
