Photo credits: Meta.mk
At the beginning of the month, the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning of North Macedonia informed that it will take over the competencies of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole and the Mayor Dejan Vladev in the Public Enterprise that should manage the future regional landfill and the six transfer stations. This is not the first promise of the competent ministry regarding the construction of a regional landfill for the Eastern and North Eastern regions. Meta.mk concludes that all previously set deadlines for publishing the call for tender were postponed, the statements were not true, and the promise that North Macedonia will get the first modern waste-management plant was unfulfilled up to the last specified deadline.
On 5 March 2021, Meta.mk published an article about the promise by the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, which claimed it has initiated the tendering procedure for selecting a company for the construction of the regional landfill in Sveti Nikole. According to the statement by the Ministry given then, the selection of the company that will implement the regional waste-management system was supposed to end in 2021, and the start of construction works of the regional landfill was set for 2022. The regional landfill was planned for the vicinity of the village of Mechkuevci. However, this statement is not true.
After more than two years, Meta.mk on 9 April 2023 reported that the Ministry of Environment announced that it took over the competencies of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole and the Mayor Dejan Vladev for managing the Public Inter-Regional Enterprise which should operate the future regional landfill and the six transfer stations. The Decision of the Ministry followed after the Municipality and the Mayor rejected the planned site for the regional landfill.
Zhivka Mihajlova, the Project Coordinator from the Eastern Planning Region, which is comprised of 18 municipalities from the Eastern and North Eastern Planning Regions, stated that the Ministry with the Decision is continuing the procedure for establishing the Public Inter-Regional Enterprise, including the selection of a director, employees, and with it the implementation of the project.
Meta.mk queried the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning what is the progress of the the procedure for construction of the Regional Landfill for the Eastern and North-Eastern regions in the village of Mechkuevci.
The complete technical and tender documentation has been revised in the past period. The urban planning documentation was prepared. Currently, the entire documentation is being checked by the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, and then approval will be sought from the Ministry of Finance – Central Financing and Contracting Department, followed by receiving approval from the Delegation of the European Union, after which the call for tender will be published. A period of 3 months is provided for the bidding and another 3 months for the evaluation procedure. The contract is expected to be concluded near the end of 2023 when the implementation will begin, stated the answer Meta.mk received from the Ministry of Environment on 7 April 2023.
Previously, at the beginning of February, Meta.mk reported that the competent Ministry failed to meet the deadline for announcing the call for tender it set. The promise of the former Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Naser Nuredini, given on 29 November 2022, was that he planned to conclude the contract and start the works on the regional landfill in Mechkuevci in the second half of 2023.
The European Commission responded to the failure to meet the deadlines for implementing the project, in its Country Report on the progress of the EU reforms in 2022. The EU provided clear instructions for the Macedonian authorities to devote efforts to the implementation of measures for establishing the regional waste-management system this year, especially in the Eastern and North-Eastern regions.
The EU Report explicitly quoted the obstructions by the Municipality of Sveti Nikole to the process for construction of the modern regional landfill for both regions, for which financial resources have already been committed by the EU. However, Meta.mk article from March 2021 indicates that extension of the deadlines also occured in the period before the election of the current mayor of Sveti Nikole after the local elections in 2021.
The European Commission’s Report for 2022 in the section “Environment and Climate Change” specifically stresses the construction of regional landfills, with particular emphasis on the one in Sveti Nikole for the Eastern and North-Eastern regions, as one of the three key activities that the authorities should work on during the upcoming year. At the same time, the European Commission also reminds of the need to implement activities to close the non-standard municipal landfills and dumps in the Eastern and North-Eastern regions, which are lagging behind due to the prolonged deadlines for construction of the regional landfill in Mechkuevci.
Based on all the data from previous years, the statement of the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning given on 5th March 2021 is assessed as not true, while the promise to start the construction of the regional landfill for the Eastern and North-Eastern regions near the village of Mechkuevci in 2022 as unfulfilled.
SOURCES:
Meta.mk (05.3.2021): Tender procedure for construction of a regional landfill in Mechkuevci in North Macedonia started, checked 10.4.2023;
Meta.mk (08.2.2023): January passed; there is no tender for the construction of the regional landfill in Sveti Nikole,; checked 10.4.2023;
Meta.mk (09.4.2023): The Ministry of the Environment revokes the competencies of Municipality of Sveti Nikole for the regional landfill, verified on 10.4.2023;
Meta.mk (13.10.2022): Regional landfill obstructions in Sveti Nikole mentioned in the EC Report, проверено на 10.4.2023.
