Angelov: Gostivar’s drinking water crisis has ended, responsibility for quality passes to local authorities

Drinking water in Gostivar is clean and safe for consumption, while the 30-day state of crisis in the territory of the Municipality ended at midnight last night, announced Stojanche Angelov, director of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue.

According to him, the end of the crisis also marks the conclusion of the involvement and direct oversight of the central government and state-owned enterprises.

“With the end of the state of crisis, central government institutions, including the Public Enterprise ‘Vodovod’ from Skopje, are withdrawing from monitoring the quality of the water. It is now the turn of the local authorities and local self-government to ensure that the people of Gostivar continue to drink clean and safe water,” Angelov declared.

The state of crisis in Gostivar was declared by the Government on July 20, after the local authorities were unable to manage the contamination of the drinking water and the outbreak that affected several thousand citizens on their own.

The use of the water for drinking had been prohibited since July 17. The competent institutions stated that the contamination was caused by improperly installed pumps belonging to the Public Enterprise “Komunalec”-Gostivar, which allowed contaminated water to enter the system. As a result of the bacterial poisoning, thousands of citizens sought treatment in hospital.