Zoran Zaev was in Stip today in to support his SDSM party ahead of the municipal elections, and touted the start of construction of a dam on the Otinja river. But the opposition noted that key preparatory steps have not been made.

The value of the project is over 300 million denars (5 million EUR) and we plan to have it done in two and a half years. We already have the first machines on the site, Zaev said.

Meanwhile, the local VMRO-DPMNE party branch pointed to the fact that the owners of land along the future artifical Otinja lake have not been reimbursed.

Nobody has contacted the families there that their land will be flooded. This looks like an attempt to seize their land, the party said, warning that the project does not appear to be serious.