Villagers Protest Bulgaria Lyulin Highway Construction Irregularities

The inhabitants of Golyamo Buchino, a village in the Pernik District of Bulgaria, have publicly protested Wednesday against irregularities in the construction of Lyulin Highway.

The have demanded the construction of a road junction to connect the village to the new motorway, as promised to them by the previous government.

They also insist on the urgent re-siting of their drinking-water reservoir. It now lies in the middle of the construction site, so they are frequently deprived of water supplies.

Their chief complaints, however, are targeted against the Turkish construction company "Mapa Cengiz" which, they claim, has illegally entered their private property during the course of construction.

The villagers protested that the company had built side roads on their arable land, ruining their property without offering any form of compensation. Electricity posts had sunk into their foundations and the village had been left without electricity for up two days, at times.

Police officers sent to patrol the protest refused to allow the demonstrators to block the Pernik-Sofia road that passes through the village. The discontent of the locals was supported by some citizens from Pernik and by the mayors of some settlements in the municipality.

The organizing committee of village protesters read out to the participants in the civil protest their demands concerning the construction of Lyulin highway. They have sent these formal requests to all the state and local institutions involved.

Planned as part of the Pan-European Road Corridor 10, the 20-km highway is scheduled for completion by the end of 2012. Financing of the project comes from the Bulgarian state budget and European funding sources.