The citizens of Skopje woke up to shocking scenes of overflowing garbage cans across the city, left over during the three days long curfew. The curfew is imposed to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, but leaving the trash uncollected raised the danger of spreading other diseases.

The Komunalec utility company excused itself for the situation insisting that it was obstructed by the curfew and could not do its job as usual. It pointed to the Public Administration Ministry which is handing out permits to worked during the curfew and informed the public that it was not placed on the list of companies allowed to operate.

The Ministry, led by SDSM party official Damjan Mancevski, quickly denied this claim. They insist that they are not responsible for determining the work hours of the city of Skopje and its Komunalec sanitation company.

The city insists that it will only pick up the trash until 16h, when the curfew goes into effect, and will reduce operations in lower density areas to just once a week. This despite the fact that the city is virtually empty after 16h and the garbage collection trucks can operate easily.

Mancevski’s Ministry claims that all the city of Skopje and Komunalec need to do is notify them that they will work during the curfew and that will be the end of it.