Coalition partners SDSM and DUI began shifting responsibility for the tragedy in the modular hospital in Tetovo, when 14 people were killed and 12 were injured on September 8.

The authorities have not yet officially announced the cause of the accident in the modular covid hospital in Tetovo. Meanwhile, while waiting for the official reasons for the tragedy in Tetovo to be announced, SDSM and DUI are shifting their responsibility through the media.

Macedonian language “Deutsche Welle” published documents in Macedonian stating that the municipality of Tetovo and the acting director of the General Hospital in Tetovo, Dr. Florin Besimi, was in charge of the covid center in Tetovo. He resigned, and the media later reported it has not reached the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Health later said that he had been acting director of the Tetovo hospital for 11 years.

Dr. Besimi is the brother of the Minister of Finance Fatmir Besimi.

“Alsat” reported that the supervision of the buildings of the modular clinics was not done by any accredited company. No publicly published document or tender contract concluded by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy indicates that the company conducted supervision. The document states that after the completion of the procedure, additional supervision will be appointed, but there is no such further documentation.

According to the “Environmental and Social Management Plan”, published on the website of the Ministry of Labor in 2020, the World Bank and this department are responsible for implementing the project. The entire responsibility for controlling the modular hospitals rested with the municipalities and the directors of the hospitals. Such is the case with the modular hospital in Tetovo which 13 days ago burned down and claimed 14 lives.

The director of the Tetovo hospital Florim Besimi was in charge of the fire protection system, for regular maintenance of installations such as water supply, sewerage, electricity and heating, a responsibility he shares with the municipality of Tetovo and a communal inspector. Checks and any repairs should be paid by the hospital itself.

The prosecution has not yet determined the causes for the fire outbreak.

According to the “Environmental and Social Management Plan”, the local authorities are in charge of almost all phases of construction and control of the modular hospitals, and the contractor, ie the company “Brako” which built the modular hospitals has other technical obligations.

After the terrible tragedy, due to the lost lives and the issue of safety of Covid patients who are receiving hospital treatment, the Minister of Health Venko Filipce and his deputy Ilir Hasani and two directors of the Tetovo hospital resigned.

It is up to the Prime Minister Zoran Zaev to decide whether to accept the resignation of Minister Filipce, because he said that he will wait for the outcome of the investigation to accurately locate the responsibility for the lost lives in the Tetovo covid hospital.