The Municipal Board (MO) of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) in Nikšić has alleged that the local government is concealing the number of relatives, godparents, and friends it has employed over the past year, and is ignoring requests for free access to information.

On January 17, DPS councilor Kristina Šćepanović filed a request for free access to information, seeking all service contracts, agreements for temporary or occasional work, contracts for service provision, and annexes to contracts made by local government bodies and services from January 1 of the previous year to January 16 of the current year.

Today, they received a response from Marko Perućica, Head of the Service for Cooperation, Presidential Affairs, and Information, stating that the requested data could not be disclosed due to concerns about the misuse of personal data.

“Given the media reports about the misuse of personal data obtained under the institute of free access to information, and to protect personal data and the integrity of employees within local government bodies, we are unable to provide you with the requested documentation. Should you secure consent from the individual concerned and present it to us, we will then be able to share a copy of the documentation containing their personal data,” reads Perućica’s response, which the DPS shared with the media.

“This is a clear example of the lack of transparency in local government operations, where, in this instance, they refuse to provide contracts funded by the citizens of Nikšić. Thus, those in power are asserting that citizens do not have the right to know how municipal funds are spent. Municipal funds are being utilized by government officials to hire their daughters-in-law, mothers, godmothers, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, sons-in-law, wives, aunts, godfathers, and friends, often for positions that do not require their qualifications,” stated the Nikšić DPS Municipal Board.

They emphasized that citizens have also observed the transparency and openness of the local government in incidents such as the illegal borrowing of 9,500,000 euros for non-functional street lighting, the purchase of defective machinery, the transformation of the Design and Planning Agency into an LLC, and the handling of deceased livestock infected with disease.

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