Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning Oliver Dulic stated today in Subotica that two decrees are under way which will prescribe limit values regarding the presence of pollutants in water.

Dulic, who visited Subotica with Australian Ambassador to Serbia Helena Studdert and met with Subotica Mayor Sasa Vucinic, announced that the wastewater issue will be resolved within the “Let’s Clean Serbia” campaign in 2011.

He said that only 35% of households in Serbia are connected to the sewerage, adding that only 6% of this wastewater is properly treated. He also stressed that 65% of households discharge wastewater into nature.

Around 44,000 tonnes of pollutants are discharged into nature in Serbia every year, which is around 2,200 tanks of hazardous waste which ends up in the environment because of unprocessed wastewater.

We must construct thousands of kilometres of sewerage canals and 30–40 large wastewater processing facilities, Dulic noted, adding that these are large investments and the major part of funds will have to be provided from EU funds and secured through public-private partnerships.

Studdert underlined that Australia invested a lot in environmental protection and developed technologies that are not expensive, but help to preserve the environment.

She voiced her pleasure at the fact that Australian companies began operating in Serbia, especially in the remit of wastewater processing.