On November 13, a Public debate was held in Kriva Palanka on the implementation of civic priorities in the Municipality of Kriva Palanka, which arise from the Memorandum of Cooperation 2023-2025, signed on December 26, 2022 between RCS Spektar, a member of the Civic Dialogue Forum, and Mayor Saško Mitovski.
The public debate was organized in cooperation with the local government, and was attended by citizens, representatives of the municipal administration, non-governmental organizations and public institutions.
Citizens were informed about the implementation of key priorities during 2024, namely:
- Solving traffic congestion,
- Introducing local public transport,
- Waste selection and processing,
- Construction of storm and faecal sewage,
- Greater support for young people,
- Revitalization of local communities, etc.
Žaklina Cvetkovska from RCS Spektar gave a brief overview of the measures and activities undertaken by the municipality to solve the outstanding problems faced by citizens. It was noted that several projects are being implemented to improve the quality of life of the population in the indicated areas. Cvetkovska also informed that the problem of revitalization of local communities remains, for which new legal solutions are awaited. At the same time, it was noted that waste selection is conditioned by the construction of the regional landfill in Sveti Nikole, but that the municipality is taking certain measures in the process of joining the regional waste management system.
Lidija Mitovska, coordinator and moderator of the budget forum, which includes gender-responsive budget planning of the Municipality of Kriva Palanka, presented the results of the implementation of the citizens’ proposals resulting from the forum process. Mitovska noted that out of a total of 40 citizens’ priorities that became part of the municipality’s budget programs for 2024, 47.50% of projects have been fully implemented, 27.50% are in the implementation phase, 2 projects have been partially implemented, and 8 projects have not been implemented. She also informed that 45 citizens’ proposals resulting from the recently held budget forum have been accepted in the 2025 budget.
The participants in the debate expressed satisfaction with the level of implementation of civic priorities, especially in terms of systemic measures to address traffic chaos. Their position is that there should be more productive measures to support young people, especially to reduce unemployment and prevent migration. A proposal was made to introduce more vocational classes for scarce occupations and to establish cooperation with companies from the municipality and the region for training and employment of young people. They also supported the proposal to open a Youth Cultural Center that will have an educational-informative, but also creative and developmental role in the engagement and activism of the young generations from the municipality.
A broad debate was also opened regarding waste selection, where the low awareness of citizens was pointed out, as well as the unsecured resources for waste selection. It was underlined that despite more containers provided for selected waste, it ends up at the City Landfill, together with municipal waste, because there are no processing and recycling stations. They also gave several recommendations for the further development of road and communal infrastructure.
The Head of the Sector for Legal Affairs, Public Activities and Support to the Mayor, Daniela Velkovska, stressed that the municipality is working dedicatedly to the implementation of civic priorities, within its own capacities and possibilities. According to her, the citizens’ proposals and their recommendations provide clear guidelines for the development of the municipality, which the local self-government should follow.
The citizens agreed that in anticipation of the local elections in 2025, more consultative, medium-term and public debates are needed with the candidates for mayor and councillors in order to have a clear picture of who to trust.
The public debate is part of the activities of the Civic Dialogue Forum, led by the NGO Info-center, within the framework of the project “Active Citizens and Participatory Democracy at the Local Level”, supported by the Olof Palme International Center from Sweden.
