site.btaSkopje Landfill Fire Still Burning, Parties Trade Blame

The fire at Skopje’s Drisla landfill, which has been burning for a third day, has not been extinguished despite rainfall over the city. Two excavators, a bulldozer and other machinery have been working for a second day to cover the burning waste with soil, said Stojance Angelov, Director of the Protection and Rescue Directorate.

Angelov reported that security patrols have been deployed to the Vardarishte landfill near the capital, since that landfill had burned for more than ten days. “A plan will also be developed for thoroughly securing this illegal landfill to prevent unwanted entry and its re-ignition, because there are suspicions that both landfills were deliberately set on fire,” he said.

Angelov added that regardless of which party wins the upcoming mayoral elections in Skopje, the new mayor will have to tackle the landfill issue with government support. “This is a complex process involving the municipalities of Gazi Baba and Kisela Voda, the relevant ministries and institutions, and it must lead to a lasting solution. The government is determined to address these pressing problems. In Vardarishte there are piles of waste that cannot simply be covered with soil and grass, because toxins will remain underground. Another issue is how much of those toxins are already reaching the Vardar River through groundwater,” he said.

The situation with the burning landfills near Skopje and the suffocating smell that blanketed the city for two days has triggered mutual accusations between the two largest political parties.

According to Venko Filipce, leader of the opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), the health of citizens across Skopje, especially in the neighbourhoods around Drisla and Vardarishte, is in serious jeopardy. “Mothers in Aerodrom and nearby districts were taking their children inside and switching on air purifiers, while the government did nothing. It is one thing to make mistakes in politics, it is another to lack capacity and ignore problems. No government in [North] Macedonia has ever treated citizens’ daily problems this way,” Filipce stated.

VMRO–DPMNE, for its part, accused SDSM and former environment minister Kaja Shukova, now a candidate for mayor of Skopje. VMRO–DPMNE released a statement that read: “In the programme titled We Can for the 2020 parliamentary elections, SDSM, (Zoran) Zaev and (Kaja) Shukova promised urgent rehabilitation of Vardarishte. Do SDSM, Zaev and Shukova know they promised to restore the illegal landfill to its natural state? Why has this project not been implemented in the past four years while they were in power? Why did Shukova, as state secretary and minister of environment, fail to carry it out despite claiming funds were secured? SDSM, Zaev and Shukova are people the public does not trust, as clearly shown in the last elections, and the same will be confirmed in the upcoming local elections on October 19.”