MILS NEWS 19/06/96

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From: "Macedonian Information Liaison Service" <mils@mils.spic.org.mk>

CONTENTS

[01] SIGNING OF EU-MACEDONIA AGREEMENT POSTPONED

[02] UK - MACEDONIA AGREEMENT ON ROAD TRANSPORT

[03] TALKS BETWEEN MACEDONIAN AND 'VARTA' REPRESENTATIVES

[04] CHINA-MACEDONIA COOPERATION DISCUSSED

[05] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BALKAN DEMOGRAPHY

[06] AGREEMENT WITH MACEDONIA RATIFIED IN BELGRADE

[07] NEW INCIDENTS IN KOSOVO

[08] INCREASED PRODUCTION IN THE LAST FIVE MONTHS

[09] CONSTITUTIONAL COURT WILL DISCUSS THE INITIATIVE IN JULY

[10] ARBEN DZAFERI: 'FAUST'S MIND' DIVIDED THE ALBANIANS

[11] ENORMOUS POLLUTION OF RIVERS FLOWING THROUGH SKOPJE

MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT ON ECOLOGY IN MACEDONIA

[12] Main Story (Part III)

MILS NEWS

Skopje, 19 June 1996

[01] SIGNING OF EU-MACEDONIA AGREEMENT POSTPONED

Meanwhile, a meeting of the European Commission had been urgently called to discuss this problem, which could result, according to 'Makpress', in re-introduction of the clause for close cooperation of Macedonia with countries in the region as a condition for the development of relations with the Union.

The information of Macedonian Television was that the Union negotiators insisted on the name 'FYROM' under Greek pressure. The attempt of Macedonian representatives to make a compromise by suggesting the formulation 'two agreeing parties' or by signing two documents (one under the name FYROM and the other under the name Republic of Macedonia, as was the case when Agreement with NATO was signed), had failed. According to Macedonian Television, EU representatives also found the international code 'MK' to be used for Macedonian steel and iron import unacceptable.

Information from Brussels are that the European negotiating team will consult with Union member countries on eventual compromise, but, as alleged, there are very small chances for that.

[02] UK - MACEDONIA AGREEMENT ON ROAD TRANSPORT

Ambassador Tony Millson said for Macedonian Radio that the Agreement was a model and a beginning of the development of bilateral relations and cooperation, and that it opened the way for Macedonia to Western Europe and Great Britain.

Minister Buzlevski stated that it was very important that the Agreement was signed after the Conference of European Transport Ministers, at which Macedonia was especially supported by Great Britain.

[03] TALKS BETWEEN MACEDONIAN AND 'VARTA' REPRESENTATIVES

Parliament President Tito Petkovski informed them that all the Laws significant for foreign investments had been passed already, and that many bilateral Agreements had been signed between Macedonia and Germany. He stressed that situation in Macedonia was stable, and that favourable international position of Macedonia guaranteed security of the investments. It was decided to concretize the investments within the following three months.

Macedonian delegation also met with Saxonia Parliament President Horst Bilde, and emphasized great possibilities for economic cooperation between Macedonia and 'Volkswagen' company.

[04] CHINA-MACEDONIA COOPERATION DISCUSSED

[05] INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BALKAN DEMOGRAPHY

The conference has been organised jointly by 'Macedonia University' in Thessaloniki and the International Centre for Social Research (EKKE) in collaboration with the International Union of French-Speaking Demographers and the Union of Balkan Statistical Services.

The conference will be addressed by approximately 60 scientists from national statistics services, universities and research centres in Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Greece, FR Yugoslavia, Romania and Macedonia.

[06] AGREEMENT WITH MACEDONIA RATIFIED IN BELGRADE

[07] NEW INCIDENTS IN KOSOVO

Meanwhile, 'Nova Makedonija' reported about a letter sent to Serbian President Slobodan Miloshevic by a group of leaders of Serbian Resistance in Kosovo, asking from him to come to this province again and explain to Serbs and Montenegrins there what is their future. Belgrade daily 'Telegraph', according to sources in the Federal Government, reported that Miloshevic did not intend to go to Kosovo, as the opinion in Belgrade was that it was neither a good time to quarrel about Kosovo, nor to start a dialogue between Kosovo Albanians and Belgrade. As alleged, Yugoslav official stand was that Serbs in Kosovo had to understand that they must live together with Albanians, and that Kosovo issue would remain an internal one of Serbia and Yugoslavia, and it would be solved without any mediators, as it has been till now.

[08] INCREASED PRODUCTION IN THE LAST FIVE MONTHS

Raised production in 18 branches that participate 49.9% in the total industrial production increased the latter for 6.9% in May '96 compared to April '96. Industrial production in May had raised for 7.8% in comparison with the average monthly production last year. This was mostly influenced by 40.1% increased production of working goods and 10.8% increased production of reproduction materials.

[09] CONSTITUTIONAL COURT WILL DISCUSS THE INITIATIVE IN JULY

[10] ARBEN DZAFERI: 'FAUST'S MIND' DIVIDED THE ALBANIANS

In his speech, Dzaferi stressed the small percentage of Albanians in the system, and pointed out the Laws on Self Government and on Territorial Dividing of Macedonia as examples of things created by 'Faust's mind', which would have dark consequences for Albanians.

[11] ENORMOUS POLLUTION OF RIVERS FLOWING THROUGH SKOPJE

Meanwhile, Macedonian Television reported that Health Protection Institute in Ohrid had taken 30 samples of Ohrid Lake water for analysis. Two black points were noticed on Macedonian coast: at the mouth of Grashnica River and near the village of Kalishte, where water quality was of the third or fourth category. The reason for this pollution was releasing of feces to the Lake. Efforts are being made to solve this problem by constructing drainage system connected to the collector. Water quality of the other parts of Lake was either of the first or second class.

MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT ON ECOLOGY IN MACEDONIA

[12] Main Story (Part III)

"Nevertheless, the contamination and exposure is continuing, and this can say a lot about the risky future. If we have typical diseases from the presence of a smelter, and we also have a smelter, it's logical to conclude that they are because of it. I can't prove this, but if someone else thinks differently, let him prove otherwise."

The people of Veles did not become really alarmed about the plant until last August, when tubes at the smelter that were old and corroded allowed large amounts of sulfur dioxide to escape into the air. The problem was so bad that inspectors from the republic had the smelter shut down until the tubes were replaced. Ever since then the smelter has been a subject of public scrutiny and growing protests in Veles. At a demonstration in March, hundreds of people protested the smelter, with sign reading "Veles-- A City, But Not For Living", and "We Don't Want Clouds of Smoke Above Our City."

"It's an undeniable fact: the smelter has caused an ecological catastrophe in our town," said Pandora Nikusheva, head of the ecological organization Vila Zora and one of the smelter's loudest critics. "We declare--it's guilty. We are accusing it of a crime. It must be closed or be considered as a dimensional problem. On the line is the fate of the coming generations. Isn't this a criminal act turned against our children?"

The National Environmental Action Plan does not attempt to fix blame for the problem of the smelter. But it says that the state has done to little to understand the pollution and protect public health.

"The Republic and the appropriate institutions did not have enough finances and probably not even the organizational strength to carry out an extensive investigation on the environment in this particular location, by which argumentation would have been completed and concrete and efficient protection measures taken," it says.

Like many people in Veles, Nikusheva says the smelter and the state have been indifferent to the well-being of the people of Veles.

"Until the smelter is closed or relocated, we Velesians will continue to die quietly from the gases of the smelter," she said. "No one cares for us any more, neither the smelter nor the government. They are interested only in profits and not in our health."

Everywhere you go in Veles you can find people who are fearful and angry about the smelter. "It continues its merciless working, while we are waiting, hoping that something will be changed soon," said a 52-year-old man who lives near the smelter. "The situation in our town is stretched.... Sometimes this is very unkind, because when my children begin coughing, my heart is bleeding."

On the other hand, it is not hard to find skeptics in Veles who believe the problem has been exaggerated. Some of these include people who have worked at the smelter.

"The smelter is a symbol of Macedonia," said Idrizov Ruen, 52, who worked eight years in the smelter. "The only thing that has be done is to change the filters in the chimney."

Panovski Todor, 49, is a metallurgist at the smelter. "The factory is our lifeblood," he said. "If it closes, we will all be unemployed."

The director of the smelter, Boris Gichev, refused to be interviewed for this story. But other officials at the smelter tried to discredit their critics, especially Nikusheva, and accuse them of misleading the public.

"Mrs. Nikusheva together with a few so-called intellectuals from Veles, are spreading panic among the public for personal and political reasons," said Bogdan Perkov, the smelter's technical director.

Perkov also defended the smelter's administration against charges that it has ignored the effect of the smelter on the health of people in Veles.

"The official structures at the smelter from the time it was formed have been interested in environmental protection, and all the information from research shows a drastic drop of the pollution," he said.

He also criticized those who say the smelter is hiding from the public the true extent of the pollution it is causing. The smelter recently spent more than 500,000 German marks to install two monitoring systems at the smelter. The results were to be shown on a screen at the shopping center downtown, but by winter it wasn't working.

"I don't know where all this distrust comes from, when the results of the measurements are public and are regularly presented to the medical department and to the media," said Perkov. "I am a citizen of Veles, too, and I live here with my family. So it's logical that if there were high pollution in Veles, I would be worried and excited, too."

Goran Arsov, an ecological engineer at the smelter said that people were overlooking the benefits that the smelter brought to Veles and to Macedonia. "The citizens of Macedonia should be grateful to the smelter, when at the time of the transition it gave large amounts of money to the government budget, insuring the survival of the country," he said. "This shouldn't be forgotten."

Officials at the smelter say the smelter should stay where it is, and that it should keep working. They say they are counting on help from the Japanese government to buy more pollution control equipment. The World Bank has also given Macedonia 20 million American dollars worth of credits to spend on environmental protection.

"The real solution to the pollution problem isn't to be found in the closing or relocation of the smelter," Arsov said. He said moving the smelter would cost too much and closing it would deprive the state of 11 million American dollars of income annually.

Arsov also suggested that the ecological problems in Veles cannot be solved with foreign money alone. "It's true that the smelter is a very big polluter," he said, "but I beg you not to forget the other factors which contribute to the pollution in our surroundings, including ordinary people, who lack a large ecological consciousness."

In Skopje, the Republic's Department of Health Protection has finally gotten the equipment it needs to undertake an epidemiological study of Veles. It hopes to answer the question that doctors say they cannot answer now: how much is the smelter harming people? The Department has outfitted a new laboratory that will allow it to make tests that it could not make before, such as analyzing blood for heavy metals. But the study is not likely to be finished for two years.

Most people in Veles do not want to wait for more studies before something is done about the smelter. At the same time, they don't expect any changes soon. For 23 years they have lived with the smelter looming on the edge of the city, giving so many of them work but bathing them in dangerous smoke. In a way, they are resigned to it.

"I'm worried about the town's misfortune, but there is nothing to be done by me as a citizen," said Ljupcho Mitrevski, a 30-year-old worker at the "Boris Kidrich" slate factory. "We got used to living like this, breathing this air, drinking this water... I'm not believing any more the ecologists crying for help, or the politicians, either. They should have been thinking earlier about the consequences. They should have been thinking also that heavy industry must be built far away from the town. Doesn't this seem a criminal and manipulated game?"

(end)

mils news 19 June, 1996

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