LSDM: Water Toast in Gostivar Was Shameful, More Than 50 Municipalities Do Not Conduct Regular Testing

On the same day that OBRM-PDUKM announced that the water in Gostivar was finally safe to drink, the “Boshava” Public Utility Company in Demir Kapija said that water from its supply system was safe neither for consumption nor for cooking, the opposition LSDM party stated.

LSDM described the toast and group photo with glasses of water held yesterday in Gostivar as shameful, stressing that neither the prime minister nor the health minister attended the event. According to the party, the water was being “turned back on” from an excursion, while officials did not want to face the public.

“If the problem recurs, responsibility will once again be shifted to someone else, and they will say: ‘I was on an excursion.’ Since the outbreak of the crisis and the hepatitis epidemic in Gostivar, Mickoski has never appeared among the residents who drank contaminated water for an entire month,” LSDM said in its response.

The opposition party added that, instead of Mickoski and Klekovski, a police officer was sent to raise a toast and demonstrate how “tasty” the water was.

According to LSDM, the reality is that regular, publicly disclosed water tests are not conducted in more than 50 municipalities across Macedonia. The party also raised suspicions about breakdowns and said that four rivers were polluted, while there was not a single document or person responsible anywhere.

“Instead of presenting the public with official reports, laboratory results and periodic quality checks, we see people drinking tap water and, on that basis alone, declaring that it is clean and safe. Since when has drinking water become a method for verifying its quality? Do they think, like Mickoski, that their word can replace tests and evidence?” LSDM asked in its response.