The oldest school in Macedonia has no school gym

For one meter less they cannot build a school gym, they lack “only two classrooms” to save electricity and heating, they need “just a new roof” so as not to destroy the renovated school. These are the most common problems faced by primary schools in Skopje to boast they can have classes in normal conditions.   Inbox 7 team toured several schools in Skopje to see if they meet the basic criteria prescribed by law: hygienic premises, a school gym, way of using electricity, water and heating, whether student transport is provided, whether they have arranged schoolyards, access for students with disabilities, diet and whether and how security is guaranteed.   In all the schools we visited there are no access ramps for children with special needs. We noticed that some do not have security cameras, but we also...

Traffic fines highest in Macedonia

Macedonian citizens are again faced with increased penalties. The government is drafting amendments to the Law on Road Safety which provides reinforcement of penal policy. Inbox 7 surveyed how it is in other countries and what penalties are paid by citizens. We decided to analyze the most common traffic violations in countries in the region and the European Union. Penal policy in Macedonia is studied by Zoran Popovski, presidential candidate in the last election, in whose campaign this issue was very important. “In recent years there has been real draconization of the penal policy. Presumably, the purpose is to keep citizens in fear through this brutal penal baton. It is a kind of a guarantee for calm and long-term governance”, says Popovski. He advocates reducing penalties and suggests to be charged as a percentage of revenue realized by the...

Foreign media not interested in Macedonian TV stations

Ownership structure in the Macedonian media is problematic. Currently there is no media in this country that is on commercial basis. Formerly it was A1, say experts in the country. For Stole Naumov, journalist and former member of the Broadcasting Council, the ownership structure of the media is unfavorable. “There should be transparent media ownership. Not everyone who wishes, to have its own media. The situation is similar with the banks. Not everyone can own a bank. To prevent concentration of media ownership in the same persons, they must insist on media owners to be journalists”, says Naumov. He adds that big bosses can finance media, on the other hand they may have their interests that are contrary to the public interest. Media ownership is problematic for one of the bards of the Macedonian journalism Aleksandar Chomovski. “I think...

Lots of TV stations, empty TV screens

Political establishment and their trends for total control over the media for realization of greater political influence are the main culprits for continued destruction of television industry in Macedonia, believe television business experts in the country. “Not to agree with Sitel and A1, in 2004 SDSM government let three other TV stations to broadcast a signal on the whole territory, Kanal 5, Telma and Alsat M. When VMRO came to power, however, they began to spend enormous money in A1 and Sitel. When they saw that A1 is out of their control, they began to spend money on Kanal 5”, says Viktor Grozdanov, former director of the Association of Private Electronic Media in Macedonia. Inbox7 analysis brought to light another problem – we have too many national commercial TV stations that are broadcasted terrestrially (via repeaters).      ...

Pollution does not stop, every year 4,500 new cancer cases!

Middle-aged Vera Tushevska daily goes shopping in the small improvised market with a view of the former giant industrial complex Zelezara, where ore used to be melted, but today, she says, they do not know what is produced. She has been living in this settlement since 1973, but there has never been so much stink as now. “There used to be smoke, but it did not stink. We knew that ore was melted in Zelezara. Now we neither know who works in Zelezara, nor what is melted. The only thing we know is that we feel a burning sensation in the eyes and throat, coughing … says the resident of Zelezara, where citizens gathered last summer to protest against the enormous pollution from the circle of the complex and they received assurances by the plant “Makstil” that they would...

The state renovates offices with money from the companies?!

The adaptation of the premises of the local unit of Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management in Kocani has been paid by the state. At the same time officials in charge of this regional office asked for additional money from businesses to pay for the reconstruction of the premises. Center for Investigative Journalism SCOOP Macedonia came to the document that employees of the local unit in Kocani used in the companies asking them to pay money to the Kocani company. The companies submitted the document, but with a covered name and address, visibly annoyed and scared. The reason for this is fear of retaliation by state institutions. “There was not such collection of taxes even in Turkish times. I do not know how to define this, as a blackmail, racket or begging. Who takes the money, where they...

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