Autumn is arriving, and after that winter, to express ourselves in the spirit of the most infamous ficus in the state, which at the same time is occupying the presidential position. Even though the summer wasn’t without ugly eco-topics, the winter season is bringing us the same troubles from last year and from the years before. For this summer, the unhappy incident with the activists that love Vodno will remain remembered, when the command “Run over everything in front of you”, strongly echoed through the air and the public, for which someone certainly has to be held responsible.
Here I will not treat much the fact that green activism is abused by boycotters, fake leftists, and even characters like Mitko Cavkov, nor that the organizers of the green protests are omitting to address this infiltration in a strange way.
Currently, a much greater problem is that there are only big words and long-term promises for the general health of the environment. But! Citizens need measures for environmental protection now, today and in the upcoming months, after the major political decisions about the referendum are successfully resolved.
These days we’re back on the road again, this time, in the attempt to talk about the connection between social and environmental justice, at the same table with the local authorities, non-governmental organizations and citizens. Nice conversations and a warm welcome in Stip, Gostivar, Kumanovo, Veles, Bitola…
And many dark stories and testimonies. We hear about extremely inhuman living conditions of the Roma community in several cities, about the disturbingly low environmental quality, about the pollution…One of the most unpleasant findings during this tour is the fact about the lack of communication, although this shouldn’t be such a big surprise. There is not enough communication between the “green” ministry and the local authority, for example, with the Mayor of Gostivar. There is no communication also between the Cabinet of the Mayor of Bitola and the NGOs, and there are numerous urgent initiatives that should be at least discussed. There is no communication between the institutions and the citizens…
“I support the idea for the gas pipeline, but years will be needed for this, and we are threatened from the polluted air as of now” – said to me a longtime activist. I cannot express how much I agree with him. And I think, yes, and this goes for everything else related to the everyday life, to life…Health, education, security, environment…Seconds are all it takes for someone’s life to be endangered or lost, while the promises are made in regards to long-term projects, concepts, ideas, plans…
During this time, the rich are getting even more rich, and the poor even more poor. When you’re sitting on a terrace at a café bar, there are beggars approaching you almost every two or three minutes, and the news are filled with horrible stories, every day, in an increasing number.
The conclusion that there is no communication is unpleasant. There is not at least a minimum level of communication in which what is most urgent should be seen. Instead, the couriers just don’t stop yelling about something for which their bosses are most responsible, while the government, on the other hand, does not find the time to merge with the present day. One part of the government (read: Zaev and his closest collaborators) is focused on the future that needs to be secured with the major decision, whereas the other part is securing the future through tenders.
While I’m writing these lines, Jonny Stulic’s song, “Sons of bitches”, and the verse “Their people in strategic places” …went through my mind…And I ask myself, in the context of of the green shade of today’s writing, if there is, actually, any kind of solution.
We are poor now, the young people are leaving now, the dangers to our safety and security are lurking now, the health is being endangered now…Everything is happening now, and this fact is not on the agenda of those who need to do something – now. The future seems green to everyone, but our present day is black. Give us air!
