Obiliq municipality is located immediately northwest of Prishtina on the main road to Mitrovica. It was part of the Prishtina municipality until 1989. The municipality now comprises a total of 20 villages including the town of Obiliq itself. Primary data has been gathered from ten of the twenty settlements in Obiliq municipality. These are Hade, Lajthishte, Dardhishte, Sibovc, Grabovc i Poshtem, Shipitulle, Hamidi, Palaj/Crkvena Vodica and Obiliq.
There are around 5,300 inhabitants in the town of Obiliq, and around 27,000 inhabitants in rural areas. Population density is variable from one settlement to the other. A large proportion of the population are young and settlements are divided by ethnicity. Although the majority of the population is Kosovo Albanian, villages such as Babimoc/Babin Most, Millosheve/Milosevo, Plemetin/Plemetina and Palaj/ Crkvena Vodica are mostly inhabited by Kosovo Serbs and other non-Albanian ethnic minorities. Obiliq town was also a multi-ethnic area before mid-March 2005, but all remaining Kosovo Serbs and some Roma have left the town and settled in Plemetin/Plemetina and other villages.
Public Consultation and Stakeholder Identification
During the preparation of the LPTAP there was considerable public consultation of key stakeholders,based upon an Environmental and Social Safeguards Framework, in order to introduce the project to communities in the area of interest. The project has followed a three stage process:
1. Initial key stakeholder definition and identification;
2. Initial consultation of key stakeholders, including affected villages and communities, to identify potential project impacts and concerns of communities; and
3. Extensive household survey of affected communities and detailed consultation and focus groups to provide a robust and up to date social base line and to explore further the impacts identified during the first phase of the consultation.
Village Consultations
As a first step, a series of village consultation meetings was held from October 22 to November 1, 2007 in Shipitulle, Grabovc i Poshtem, Hade, Sibovc, Lajthishte, Plemetin, Dardhishte, Hamidi, and Obiliq. In addition to the individual village meetings, the project office held a final meeting with village representatives to disclose the findings of the nine village meetings, to verify information and to discuss key requests of residents. Attendance was high, with an average number of seventy people at each meeting. The meetings identified key issues that were further explored for the social assessment baseline and have informed the methodology of subsequent consultations with village communities in the area of interest.
To access the Village Consultation photo gallery, click here.
Household Surveys and Focused Community Consultation
In order to address data gaps, LPTAP commissioned two Kosovo-based companies (Prism Research and Community Development Fund-CDF) to carry out a detailed household survey and ongoing consultation with affected communities and villages. The purpose of the household survey was to provide accurate and up to date primary social data. Information from the household survey was used to supplement the secondary data and to provide qualitative information on people’s attitudes, perceptions and concerns about current and future mine and plant development.
Participants frequently identified community meetings that would represent their village’s concerns and act as a point of contact between the project and the community as good mechanisms for ongoing consultation. In line with this expressed interest and with the Community Consultation Guidelines, Community Development Forums have been established for the majority of affected communities and have had active participation from community members.
Most Frequently –Mentioned Issues and Concerns:
1. Employment
2. Lack of infrastructure (roads, water supply, sewage system)
3. Pollution: Air, water and soil
4. Irregular electricity supply
5. Resettlement: land expropriation, compensation, legal
6. framework, maintaining the village as whole when resettled
For more information please download the Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment (SESA).
