Andonovska: Gostivar Water Quality Category Cannot Be Made Public Without Prosecutor’s Office Approval

Marija Andonovska, director of the Institute of Public Health, stated several times during today’s press conference that the results of water quality tests from Gostivar’s urban supply network cannot be published without first obtaining permission from the Prosecutor’s Office.

Asked by “Lokalno” whether she could reveal the category in which the quality of the city’s tap water is classified, Andonovska said the information could not be disclosed because of the investigation. She stressed that the Institute of Public Health aims to complete the tests and publish the results in record time, adding that they will be shared with citizens as soon as approval is received from the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

According to her, tests were conducted at four different locations in Gostivar at the request of the Prosecutor’s Office. Last week, following an investigation, the prosecution announced that there were reasonable grounds to suspect that the water in the city’s supply network had been contaminated by the Municipality of Gostivar and the “Water Supply” public utility.

Preliminary data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs show that three pumps had been installed in the sewage channel and subsequently connected to the main system supplying drinking water to the entire city of Gostivar.