site.bta20 Illegal Structures to Be Demolished in Stara Zagora's Lozenets Borough

A total of 20 illegal structures will be demolished on Tuesday in Stara Zagora's Lozenets borough, Stara Zagora Mayor Zhivko Todorov told journalists. The structures are located on state-owned private property, comprising forest land - deciduous forest - outside the regulatory boundary and within a park area. According to him, these are the last 20 structures out of a total of 550 documented by the Municipality over the years.

A total of 29 structures were included in the demolition procedure, nine of which have already been voluntarily demolished by their owners. The remaining 20 are being demolished on Tuesday, Todorov added.

"There is no chance whatsoever for them to be legalized, as they are located outside the regulatory boundary. Moreover, they are in a park area," Todorov said.

He stressed that the Municipality's actions are not related to the ethnic background of the people living in the borough, but to the need to comply with the law. According to him, residents of the legal part of the borough have repeatedly filed complaints and expressed dissatisfaction with the illegal construction, the lack of proper infrastructure and waste collection, as well as the formation of illegal dumps.

The Mayor also said that over the years, people had been found to have moved into the borough from Nova Zagora, Kazanlak and Sliven. There is also information about other unauthorized activities around the structures, but their detection and sanctioning fall within the remit of the relevant authorities, he added.

In connection with the demolition of the structures, the Municipality has also taken measures to accommodate people from vulnerable groups. Deputy Mayor for Municipal Property, Healthcare and Social Activities Pavlina Delcheva, who is responsible for the social aspect of the procedure, said that social workers had identified 18 households with 21 children during visits to the area. Subsequently, 12 applications for accommodation were submitted.

Four families were determined to meet the eligibility requirements for accommodation, including families with young children, chronic illnesses or expert assessments issued by the Territorial Expert Medical Commission (TELK). Some of the families subsequently declined the accommodation offered.

As of Tuesday, four households had been accommodated in social housing and other properties from the municipal housing stock, Delcheva said. She added that the Municipality was ready to continue accommodating people, particularly families with young children. According to her, some people had expressed a desire to purchase properties rather than be accommodated. This option will also be considered, with the Municipality planning to announce new tenders for the purchase of properties.

Mayor Todorov recalled that the administration had already once postponed the demolition of illegal structures to allow additional work to be carried out on the social aspects of the case. He said it was important to establish who actually lived in the structures, as in some cases the people who had declared ownership of them did not correspond to those identified during inspections.

The Mayor also addressed the question of why the illegal construction in the area had not been halted when it first began. He showed archive photographs from 2004 which, according to him, show the development of illegal construction in the area. "When an illegal structure is being built, measures must be taken immediately to stop the construction and demolish the respective structure," Todorov said.

According to him, various institutions had contributed over the years to the development of illegal construction, with electricity and water and sewerage infrastructure having been installed in some areas.

"Today we have a law that everyone must comply with," Todorov added.

In August last year, more than 100 illegal structures were demolished in the borough.