Environmental non-government organisations have criticised on February 29 the decision of the Sapareva banya town hall to approve illegal construction of the Panichishte-Ezerata-Kaboul ski zone.
The town hall went as far as to declare environmental activists Tsveta Hristova and Andrey Kovatchev personas non grata for “their considerable input to stopping the municipality development,” Blagoevgrad-based non-governmental organisation Tetida said.
Hristova and Kovachev are members of the Sustain the Nature in Bulgaria (SNB) and Citizens for Rila (CR) NGOs, promoting sustainable tourism development in the area and campaigning against the illegal ski resort construction.
Sapareva banya residents would like to develop alternative and eco tourism but they do not receive support from the local and the central authorities, the NGOs said.
Sapareva banya municipality is located in the foothills of Rila Mountain and is in charge of the preservation of the portion of Rila National Park located near the town.
The illegal ski zone is being constructed since the summer of 2007, and the building is going on in violation with the Bulgarian legislation and the European directives on Natura 2000 environmental network, SNB said.
Panichishte-Ezerata-Kaboul project is also in direct contradiction with the Strategy for Sustainable Tourism Development for 2008-2013 adopted by the 12 municipalities surrounding Rila national park, including Sapareva banya. The main goal of the strategy is increasing the prosperity of local residents through sustainable tourism development, as well as the preservation of the biological diversity, the landscape, the historical heritage and the authentic local culture in and around the national park. Rila national park is also a member if PAN Parks, a network that works on nature preservation and development of sustainable ecological businesses the protected areas.
According to SNB, the violations in relation to the construction of the also called Super Panichishte ski zone are leading to assumptions that the case with Bansko ski zone in Pirin Mountain will occur again. ”If this happens Bulgaria will have to pay sanctions to the European Commission because of destructing habitats from the European environmental network Natura 2000,” SNB said. That money will be paid by all taxpayers but not by the local or central authorities that allowed this to happen, the coalition warned.
The environmentalists blame the Ministry of Environment and Water Affairs (MOEW) for this situation. In 2005, in a letter to Sapareva banya municipality MOEW said that the local authority couldn’t consider a master plan for “Tourist and ski centre Panichishte-Ezerata-Kaboul”, as the project contradicts to the legislation because the planned slopes and equipments would be constructed in a national park. However, subsequently MOEW itself started a procedure of this project environmental assessment and on this way it gave hope to Separeva banya municipality that such ski zone can be legalized and constructed.
SNB again reminded that about 100 000 citizens signed the Internet and paper petitions in favour of stopping the illegal construction. In Sapareva banya and the nearby towns of Dupnitsa and Samokov the petition was disseminated secretly among the residents because they are worried about having problems with the local authorities if they find out that the population is against the ski zone, SBN said.
