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MILS NEWS 96-08-21Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: "Macedonian Information Liaison Service" <[email protected]>CONTENTS
MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT ON ECOLOGY IN MACEDONIAMILS NEWSSkopje, 21 August, 1996[01] PRESENTATION OF MACEDONIAN ECONOMYMacedonian Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Bekjir Zhuta yesterday informed the US Ambassador to Macedonia Christopher Hill about the global economic situation in the country. The announcement of the Secretariat for Information said that Zhuta had talked about the intensive economic reforms in Macedonia during the last three years, which were carried out in cooperation with IMF and the World Bank, and which had been positively estimated.The Minister underlined that due to regular payments of foreign debts, inherited from the former Yugoslavia, very little money had been invested in production. According to Zhuta, however, there is a qualitative change in Macedonia, especially in 32 industrial branches, and mostly in reproduction materials production. For the financially exhausted Macedonian economy to be revived, more money should be marketed in production. In that context, agreements on foreign investments in some economic subjects have already been signed, which are of the greatest importance for the country, said Bekjir Zhuta. [02] INTEREST FOR CHINESE INVESTMENTS IN MACEDONIAMacedonian Secretariat for Information reported yesterday that Macedonian Minister Vladimir Naumovski and Chinese Ambassador to Macedonia Hu Iuhehe met yesterday and talked about the possibilities for Chinese investments in Macedonia. They also discussed the planned visits of Macedonian economic delegations to China, during which agreements on economic cooperation should be signed. It was concluded that political relations between the two countries were developing successfully, especially after the visit of Chinese Vice Prime Minister Chien Chi Chen to Macedonia, but that it was necessary to intensify the economic cooperation.[03] MACEDONIAN - POLISH COOPERATION IN EDUCATIONMinister of Education of Poland Jezhi Vjatr is expected to arrive today for a three-days visit to Macedonia. He is going to sign a bilateral agreement on cooperation in education with his Macedonian counterpart Sofia Todorova.[04] GOVERNING PARTIES INDIVIDUALLY ON LOCAL ELECTIONSMacedonian Television reported an information of sources close to the governing parties that they would appear individually on the forthcoming local elections. There are chances for the opposition, on the other hand, according to Macedonian Television, to appear with one candidate for a mayor and a joint list of candidates for Councils members.The coalition would probably consist of MAAK-Conservative Party, VMRO-DPMNE, Democratic Party, Liberal Party, Labour Party and the Macedonian Alliance. Macedonian Television also reported that certain changes required have been entered in the text of the Law on Local Elections. The changes required by the National Democratic Institute have also been entered, referring to the following: the list of candidates to be defined 20 days before the elections, the State Electoral Commission to appoint the members of all Electoral Commissions within 15 days after the elections are officially scheduled, and Commissions to appoint the Electoral Boards members at least 15 days before the elections. [05] INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS PRICES REDUCED FOR 0.4%Today's issue of daily 'Dnevnik' reports the information of the Macedonian Statistics Institute that prices of industrial products in Macedonia have reduced for 0.4% during the first seven months in 1996 compared with the same period in 1995. Prices of chemical materials used in agriculture have reduced for 0.2%. Increasing of 0.1% has been noticed in prices of construction elements and materials, while prices of petrol have not changed.[06] NO HOLDUPS AT BORDER CROSSINGSMacedonian media reported that after the order issued by Macedonian Customs Administration General Manager the day before yesterday for a strict control of import of alcohol, cigarettes, coffee and similar goods, cars and travelers have been passing the borders without any holdups. The control is strict at all border crossings, especially of refrigerator trucks. Attempts for smuggling the above mentioned goods bought at duty free shops have been drastically reduced, but also has the turnover in the shops.[07] NATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR PROTECTION OF THE OZONE LAYERMacedonian Programme for eliminating the substances that damage the ozone layer had been adopted by the Multilateral Fund of Montreal Protocol, Macedonian Television reported yesterday. At a conference titled 'Let's Protect The Ozone Layer Together', it was said that the National Programme involved several projects for an institutional support of plants 'Frinko' from Bitola, 'Sileks' from Kratovo, 'Alkaloid' from Skopje, 'Jugohrom' form Jegunovce, as well as of a number of equipment services, which are great polluters.[08] PROBLEMS OF MACEDONIANS FROM THE AEGEAN PART IN GREEK PRESSSunday's issue of the Greek paper 'Elefterotipia', as 'Vecer' daily reported, had published an article titled 'All of Them Mixed Up', which dealt with problems of people that originate from the Aegean part of Macedonia. Authors of the article were Tasos Kostopoulos, Dimitris Trimis, Angelika Psara and Dimitros Psaros.Among other issues, the article dealt with difficulties felt by Aleksandar Popovski, the President of the Association of Macedonians from the Aegean part of Macedonia. It was written that he was born in the village of Dolno Kotori (the current term Kato Idrusa was not mentioned), but that he was not allowed to visit his place of birth, although he had fought against the monarch-fascistic regime in Greece. He was allowed to do that only once and only for a few hours, 48 years after he had left his village, in order to attend a funeral of a friend of his. The article referred to the activities of the Association of Macedonians from the Aegean part, which is fighting for human rights, against any kind of terrorism and against violent changing of borders. They also cited Popovski's statement that citizens of the Aegean Part of Macedonia should return to their birth places, and that nobody else had the right to have their properties. [09] 'MACEDONIAN HOUSE' IN SIDNEYMacedonian emigrants in Australia have initiated a construction of a 'Macedonian House' till the year of 2,000, which would be a cultural centre and, possibly, an administrative headquarters of the Macedonian diplomacy in Australia, 'Makpress' agency reported. The object would be located in the municipality Rockdael of Sidney, where many Macedonian emigrants live. It would be financed by the emigrants, but also partly by the Macedonian Government.[10] UN RESOLUTION AGAINST VIOLATING THE HUMAN RIGHTS IN KOSOVOUN Commission for Human Rights Protection passed a Resolution for Kosovo the day before yesterday, by which violation of human rights in Kosovo was criticized, 'Makpress' agency reported. The Resolution required discrimination of Albanians to be immediately stopped, political prisoners to be released, and all educational, cultural and information institutions, currently taken by Serbian authorities, to be reopened.[11] 'ANTHOLOGY OF MODERN ALBANIAN POETRY' AT STRUGA POETRY EVENINGSA delegation of Struga Poetry Evenings, led by the Festival President Paskal Gilevski, was received by Macedonian president Kiro Gligorov, Parliament President Tito Petkovski and Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski the day before yesterday. The delegation presented the programmes and publications of this year's event, one of them being the 'Anthology of Modern Albanian Poetry', Macedonian Radio reported.[12] 'OHRID SUMMER FESTIVAL' AWARDS GIVENNames of the awarded participants of this year's 'Ohrid Summer Festival' were announced yesterday in Ohrid. 'Ohrid Mason '96' award was given to: Anda Petrovich and Nikolae Likaret, who were the solo players of camera ensemble 'Gjorgji Jonesko' from Romania; to the conductor Christian Mandeal; to the Youth Cultural Centre from Skopje for the play 'Bahanalii', written by Goran Stefanovski, and directed by Branko Brezovec. The award 'Golden Masque' was given to the actors Dragan Spasov, for the part of Mozart and to Senko Velinov, for the part of Sallieri in the play 'Amadeus' written by Peter Schefer and directed by Zlatko Slavenski.[13] 'RESEN CERAMICS COLONY' IN OTESHEVO ENDEDThe 24th summer session of the international event 'Resen Ceramics Colony' ended yesterday, after 20 days of work in Oteshevo. Artists from USA, Turkey, Bulgaria, FR Yugoslavia, Italy and Macedonia participated in the work of the 'Colony', and the subject was 'Folklore Ceramics And Modern Art'. Each artist had created five unique works, that remain a property of the 'Colony'. Macedonian Television reported that during the last two and a half decades, this event had been attended by over 160 artists from Europe and USA, who had created over 700 works of art.[14] 'VARDAR' ELIMINATED FROM UEFA CUPThe team of 'Vardar' from Skopje yesterday lost the game against Swedish team 'Halmstadt' with 0:1. Thus, 'Vardar' was eliminated from further competing in the greatest European football competition, the UEFA Cup. The previous game, which was played in Sweden, had ended with a result of 0:0.MILS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT ON ECOLOGY IN MACEDONIA[15] 'Water That Brings Sickness' - Part 4"Her Eyes and Face Turned Orange"The village of Rusinovo looks like a healthy place to live in. The air is clean, there are forests and meadows, and many small, clean streams flow along the mountain slopes. But the first impression is deceiving. In Rusinovo, for several years in a row, children have been getting sick from jaundice. "For almost 14 days I have been suffering from jaundice," 14-year-old Ilcho Alagjozovski said recently. "It isn't easy. I have to stay in bed 24 hours a day. The doctors recommend complete rest, and a special diet. I feel weak and exhausted." If the villages have clean drinking water, these epidemics might never have happened. Ilcho might be healthy now. The water that enters the village water system is clean. But by the times it gets to the households, it can make people sick. Epidemics of viral hepatitis, or jaundice, often break out in the village, according to Dr. Vancho Bikovski, an epidemiologist at the Berovo Medical Center. The village also suffered outbreaks of hepatitis in 1992, 1993 and 1994, he said. Each year the village clinic has registered about 50 people sick, most of them children. Two years ago both of Slavko Miloshevi's children fell sick from jaundice. His son Darko, who was 10 at the time, stayed in bed for a month. It was much worse for his daughter Despina. She was transferred to the medical center in Shtip, where she stayed for 57 days. "Her eyes and her face turned orange," Miloshevski said. "She couldn't stand on her own feet. In the hospital she was given an infusion for two days. The doctors hardly managed to save her." The polluted water does not seem to affect adults. "They are used to the water they drink," said Dr. Tanja Ruteska, who worked in Rusinovo. The main problem is with children and visitors. "When people from outside come to the village, usually from Skopje, they are immediately starting to get stomach infections, which result in increased body temperature, vomiting, weakness and diarrhea," she said. She said that people should boil the water but that they don't often obey this rule. Rusinovo is the largest village in the Berovo district. It has 700 houses and about 3,000 residents. The village lies four and a half kilometers from Berovo along an old asphalt road that ends at the village entrance and turns into a muddy village street. Livestock wanders freely. No one seems to care. The village water system is more than 20 years old. Its pipes are corroded. The water is not regularly chlorinated. A few years ago the machine that chlorinated the water broke down, and from then on the water wasn't disinfected at all. The filters are old and made of ordinary sand by the villagers themselves. But even they don't work properly. Another problem is the lack of sewerage. The water from private houses and the livestock mixes with the drinking water in the water system. Many people have their own wells, but the wells are not deep enough. They draw from the first layer of water, which extends only six to eight meters down. "We drink the water the way it is," said Mitko Korchovski, 52. "Usually we boil it according to the doctor's recommendations, but it cannot be like this forever." There are different opinions about how to solve the problem. "First, the population should be educated, raising its ecological consciousness," said Dr. Bikovski. "We shouldn't let the waste from the farm animals scattered all over the village mix with the water in the water system." Many villagers say that a new water system should be built to connect the village to the city water system in Berovo. "In Berovo, the water, which is both bacteriologically and chemically safe, is used for irrigation, while here there isn't any clean drinking water at all," said Kiril Burovski, a wood technician. But a solution to the water problem may be difficult. The village has other problems that haven't been solved, such as no asphalt road and no sewage system, and times are hard economically. "We try to provide basic conditions of normal living for us and our children, but money is needed for this, which we don't have," said Goce Miloshevski, a villager. (end)mils news 21 August, 1996Macedonian Information Liaison Service Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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