Residents of the villages of Trnovo, Dobrovnica, Uzem, Krklja, Varovište, Drenje and Stanci yesterday held a peaceful protest in front of the Municipality of Kriva Palanka building, demanding a solution to the problem of the uncontrolled movement of large livestock. Mayor Saško Mitovski also attended the protest.
Citizens said they have been suffering for years from damage to crops, fields, yards and auxiliary buildings, and that their traffic safety is also at risk. Some of them claim they have been exposed to threats and pressure from the owners of the animals.
According to them, they have been facing the same problem for more than 15 years—uncontrolled movement of large livestock through the villages, fields, yards and auxiliary buildings. They are asking for a permanent solution that would protect both their property and the livestock.
One day before the protest, the Ministry of Interior detained a 27-year-old woman from the village of Židilovo because she prevented employees of the Food and Veterinary Agency (FVA) from carrying out official duties. According to the Ministry, the officials were acting on a decision to implement measures for the seizure of domestic animals.
The same woman had a conflict with FVA officials in December last year. At the time, as the Public Prosecutor’s Office announced, her father and his two daughters were suspected of using force and serious threats to prevent officials from acting on a final and enforceable decision for the seizure of large livestock.
Following the latest developments, a public disagreement has also emerged over which institution has jurisdiction to deal with this issue. According to Mayor Saško Mitovski, the municipality has no jurisdiction to act, but the FVA says the opposite.
“The municipality has no legal competencies to act in this case; they lie exclusively with the Food and Veterinary Agency,” Mayor Mitovski said in an interview for Prizma.
The Food and Veterinary Agency reacted most strongly to this statement. The Agency said that, pursuant to the Law on Public Cleanliness, oversight of the maintenance of public areas falls under municipal jurisdiction. This includes keeping and grazing large livestock on public spaces.
“We remind Mitovski that it is irresponsible toward his own citizens and the residents of the Palanka villages for him to exempt himself from responsibility in this case, because under the Law on Public Cleanliness, Article 14, paragraph 1, item 11, control over the maintenance of public areas—namely the keeping and grazing of large livestock (including cattle) on public areas—lies precisely with the Municipality. If he wanted to, Mitovski could have solved the problem by now,” the FVA said.
