Hundreds of people protest against air pollution in Skopje

2024-12-10 22:22:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Hundreds of Macedonians marched on Tuesday night in Skopje against air pollution, accusing the country's governments of not handling the problem of polluted air that continues to be a threat to citizens' health.

The protesters started the march from the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning of North Macedonia, holding placards with inscriptions such as: "In Skopje, buildings and vehicles live, only we people suffocate" and "Parties, do they give you fresh air?" ", and continued towards the Assembly before they finished the march in front of the Government building.

In recent months, Skopje has been consistently ranked among the most polluted cities in the world, according to the global company IQAir, which measures air quality.

The organizers of the protest, including the "Human Green City" initiative and several other NGOs, emphasized that the reason for the protest is the numerous cases of deaths related to air pollution, which, according to them, constitute 17.7% of the total mortality in place.

"Every year in North Macedonia, there are almost 4,000 cases of deaths caused by exposure to PM2.5 particles," said the "Human Green City".

"Too often those in charge want to say that there is no magic wand for solving pollution. But we know that there is such a stick, and that is the budget, which is over 6 billion euros. Billions are spent, but nothing for air. Why? Because the budget is reserved for something else", stated Jane Dimeski from "Mundasi per Kendra".

They also said that 14 years have passed since the establishment of the first air pollution measurement station on "Macedonia" street in Skopje, while the problem remains the same since then.

"Governments and politicians change, while the polluted air remains the same," said a citizen.

They presented several demands, among which, that the Government forces the Directorate for Hydrometeorological Works in North Macedonia (DPHM) to start forecasting temperature inversions in the valleys.

Also, it was requested that a large number of schools and nurseries in the country, especially in the capital and municipalities, switch to ecological heating systems, replacing the oil and fuel oil currently used.

Consequently, during the winter season, apart from Skopje, other cities such as Manastir, Tetova, Gostivari, Kir?ova, or even Ohrid, have high concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 particles.

From the health aspect, at the beginning of 2024 the Institute of Public Health published the report "Air pollution in the Republic of North Macedonia and health risks", according to which almost 18 percent of the total mortality in North Macedonia can be attributed to attributed to exposure to current concentrations of PM2.5 particles.

The latest data from the European Environment Agency (EEA) show that polluted air is the cause of over 5,000 premature deaths in North Macedonia./REL