Farmers from Rača spent the night in the Municipality building. They told N1 this morning that they are well, that the night passed peacefully, but also that they are surprised by what they saw regarding the way of working in that municipality. “It’s already past 8 o’clock, more than half of them haven’t come to work. So we wonder what we are paying those contributions and taxes for, if they receive salaries and don’t do their job,” said farmer Milan Milošević.
Farmers in the Municipality of Rača decided to radicalize the weeks-long protest, dissatisfied with the increase in property tax – by as much as 60 percent. They left their tractors in front of the municipal building, and on Tuesday morning they entered inside and said that they would stay there day and night – until their demands were met and the entire municipal leadership resigned.
“We are here, the night passed quite peacefully, we had no problems, no one touched us. But what we see is that it is already so many hours, more than half of them have not come to work. We wonder what we are paying those contributions and taxes for, if they receive salaries and don’t do their job. Not a single counter is open, no one is doing anything, even though we are not interfering with anyone’s work,” Milošević said.
When asked if they are the reason why the employees did not come to work, he says: “Maybe they are uncomfortable. But, we are here until the demands are met. We will try to find out why they did not come to work, we tried to ask the mayor of the municipality, but he locked himself in his office.”
The mayor of the Municipality of Rača, Branko Radosavljević, stated that “some solutions” were offered to the farmers from that area, but that they did not accept them. He also said that the resignations are an additional request, and that it was not in the basic ones, which relate to the reduction of taxes and the return to the level from 2024.
“Our problem is to pay that tax, because we know who we will pay that tax to and how they will dispose of our money. It has to be in a package together (tax and resignations), because even if he cancels it, that we don’t pay the tax, it doesn’t mean anything to us anymore. We have been in protest since January 30, when we see now how they are disposing of our money… It is no longer so much about the money as it is about their arrogant behavior,” Milošević emphasized.
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He added that he “doesn’t know why the municipality institution exists.”
“People should come who will behave like good hosts. We call on the authorities to come and check what is happening. This is our institution, this is owned by the people of Serbia,” he said.
According to Milošević, the authorities are trying to transfer their problem “to the political field.”
“Here are all farmers, we are burdened with taxes, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. And the fact that they are trying to transfer it to politics is not correct on their part, but they received instructions from the top, they are used to lying. But here they can’t, because we are at their door,” said the N1 interlocutor.
He also says that it is warm for them in the municipality. “We are fine here, it’s warm, they could reduce the heating a bit, because we are in solidarity with the children who are covering themselves with blankets in the elementary school, they are cold. These here are arrogant, they go in short sleeves,” said Milošević.
What they, he says, noticed yesterday during the day is that people “in fictitious jobs” work in the municipality.
“You can’t imagine what they have deputies, assistants for, literally invented jobs. And they don’t come to work, nor has anyone seen them,” he concluded.
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Source: N1, Foto: Printscreen YouTube