site.btaIndendent MP Candidate Batkov Meets with Bilyanska Residents

Todor Batkov, an independent candidate for member of Parliament in the 22nd Multi-member constituency of Smolyan, met with residents of the village of Bilyanska on Sunday, his nomination committee reported.

Residents of the small Smolyan village told Batkov that no one pays attention to the remote villages - neither to the roads nor to the water supply - and people are moving elsewhere. A 72-year-old man said that officials only come before elections, beg people to vote for them, and then forget about them.  

Due to logging, the village’s infrastructure is in shambles, including the water and sewer systems. The local population was forced to repair the damaged water main using their own funds and labour.

“People also raised the issue of indiscriminate logging carried out in self-regenerated pastures, which are public municipal property. Following the example of the residents of the villages of Kremen and Gela, they contacted me to express their concerns regarding the legality of the logging of Douglas fir and beech on an area of about 10 hectares,” said Batkov. He committed to alerting the relevant authorities to the problem.