With air pollution levels in Skopje’s densely populated Aerodrom district 4 to 5 times above the maximum allowed limits this evening, VMRO-DPMNE called on teh ruling SDSM party and Aerodrom Mayor Zlatko Marin to explain what their plan is to counter the problem.

Marin and Skopje Mayor Petre Silegov, as well as their SDSM party in general, won elections promising that they will quickly resolve the huge problem of winter time air pollution, when a number of Macedonian cities regularly top world lists in air pollution.

Winter hasn’t started yet and Skopje is suffocating. And this happens with reduced traffic. Imagine what the actual winter will bring. Mayors Silegov and Marin are responsible to solve the problem and they did nothing, said VMRO-DPMNE members of the Aerodrom council.

Local authorities have introduced a modest program to replace wood and coal burning stoves with inverter air condition systems, but this came just as the SDSM appointed energy regulatory committee hiked the price of electricity by steep 7.4 percent, making this option unaffordable for the poorer families, who are predominantly those who use cheaper wood for heating.