During the visit to the municipalities in the Polog region, within the framework of the project “Green Future”, with the support of the Heinrich-Böll Foundation (Sarajevo), CIVIL’s team had an interview with civic activist and member of the environmental association “Eco Guerrilla”, Arianit Xhaferi. We spoke with Xhaferi about the environmental situation in the Municipality of Tetovo, the efforts of the Municipality in that aspect, as well as about the responsibility of the local self-government and the citizens, the maintenance of green areas and a healthy environment in their city.
CIVIL Media: Last week your association Eco Guerrilla submitted a request to the Prime Minister of the RNM for taking away the competencies of the Mayor of the Municipality of Tetovo, Teuta Arifi. Even though we read the statement, we would like for you to explain the reasons for this demand?
Xhaferi: Our request to Prime Minister Zaev is for competencies of the Municipality of Tetovo to be taken away for one part of the activities that are provided by the Law on Local Self-Government and which the Municipality of Tetovo isn’t using, or doesn’t manage to deliver what we expect from them. It concerns the maintenance of the public hygiene, which is one of the municipal obligations according to the law, furthermore, the traffic chaos that we face every day, which you can see, the absence of parking spaces and parking garages that were promised during the two pre-election campaigns, both in the first and second mandate of Teuta Arifi. Moreover, there is usurpation of green areas by construction companies building multi-storey buildings that take up a large part of the green areas that after are turned into parking space for their needs, without a useful investment, and with construction of garages inside the buildings. These are some of the issues that we consider the Government has to respond to accordingly, and take away the competencies of the Municipality of Tetovo, since it’s not using them. Such practices are not unknown, we saw them, for example, when the Ministry of Education and Science took away the competencies of the Municipality of Gostivar for the nominations of high school principals, which means that this can be done. Simply, political will is needed from Skopje, from the Government and the Government needs to show a bit more attention for the citizens of Tetovo, from which citizens the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Mr. Zaev, was looking for votes for Teuta Arifi. That is why we consider that Mr. Zaev himself should bear moral and political responsibility for the failures of Teuta Arifi.
CIVIL Media: Has your organization had or does it have direct communication with the Mayor, Ms. Teuta Arifi?
Xhaferi: Yes. During her second mandate we also signed a memorandum, with which current Mayor Teuta Arifi committed to address certain issues, such as the financial transparency, which, by the way, doesn’t exist from the very first day of her administration. To this day we have no access to the financial reports, we don’t know where our money is being spent. For that we have signed, but we have also signed for the streets of Tetovo to be be regularly maintained and cleaned, and except for the central part, which is cleaned mechanically by workers of the communal enterprise, with brooms in their hands cleaning day and night, we haven’t seen them cleaning with sweepers that are used in other cities and which are much more efficient than brooms. Furthermore, we requested from the mayor to protect the green areas, and other requests that have been put aside, forgotten by this administration. Although these communications seem useful, usually they are of no value, because most often they serve mayors only to show that they are communicating with the civil sector. On the other hand, as soon as they turn their back, they continue to do what they have always done, to ignore the citizens, not to respond to the demands of the citizens, and not to fulfil their duties that are according to the law.
CIVIL Media: According to you, are the citizens responsible in caring for the environment?
Xhaferi: In most cases, no. Because the citizens themselves throw garbage wherever they can, in the inability to throw it where it’s supposed to be thrown, because the number of waste bins compared to the number of residents in a settlement is not enough. We often see citizens throwing parts of their home furniture next to the waste bins, which is forbidden. On the other hand, many citizens complain that they don’t know where to throw it and that there is nowhere they can leave it, but there is one possibility – to call the communal enterprise for them to come and collect the bulky waste. I think that here we also have lack of quality communication between the communal enterprise and the citizens, because there is a telephone number the citizens can call to ask from the communal enterprise to bring a truck for collecting bulky waste (furniture). On the other hand, there are citizens that throw their empty cigarette boxes from their car windows, which is totally unacceptable behaviour and deserves all the criticism. But this often happens also in front of the eyes of officers in charge of order and peace, who don’t even bother to write them a fine. I believe that often the conscience and awareness of citizens are related to their personal interest, meaning, to their pocket. Maybe if the appropriate bodies were to start sanctioning, then there would be less tendencies to repeat such wrongdoings. Because everyone wants to save, and not pay the state. Therefore, I think that penalties are one of the things that should be applied, something that in Tetovo is not happening.
Diana Tahiri
Camera and editing: Arian Mehmeti
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