The lack of fuel for public transport in Skopje has reduced the already insufficient number of buses to a minimum, the media in North Macedonia reports. As a problem for this, they point to unpaid debts to the fuel supplier and add that there are only 25 buses left in traffic that use propane-butane, BTA reported.
Chairman of the Independent Union of Drivers in the Public Company for Public Transport in Skopje, Afrim Mucha, told the media that the situation is alarming because almost 70 percent of vehicles are parked in garages.
The mayor of Suto Orizari municipality, Kurto Dudush, announced a protest this Friday in front of the Skopje Municipality building because of the deteriorating situation with public transport, which is causing huge problems for citizens, writes the site “Plus info”.
„Every day we face the same problem – people wait for hours at bus stops. We cannot allow our children, women and old people to suffer in these sub-zero temperatures after waiting two or three hours for a bus that may not come. This is not just Shuto Orizari's problem. This is a problem that affects all citizens of Skopje,” Dudush said in a video message on his Facebook profile.
There was a problem with the fuel last weekend as well, but the Skopje administration announced that the buses will run regularly from the beginning of the working week.
Private transporters in Skopje are calling on the authorities to immediately hold an extended meeting to solve the problem of public city transport. According to private companies, 352 buses are needed to fully fulfill the winter schedule of public transport in Skopje, and currently there are 160 to 200 buses a day short. However, private carriers cannot join the schedule because of remaining obligations to them since June, according to a statement by three private companies published in the media.
According to a message from the administration of Skopje in the later afternoon hours, the reason for the current crisis in urban transport is a representative of VMRO DPMNE in the Public Procurement Bureau, who terminated the regular public order for fuel of the public company for urban transport.
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"We recall that from the moment (Prime Minister of North Macedonia Hristijan) Mickoski started negotiations with a company for the purchase of 100 electric buses, which, as well as the promise of a total of 250 new buses from the program for Skopje, are part of the promises of VMRO-DPMNE to the citizens of Skopje, the Calvary of the company (for urban transport) began. At that time, speculations about the collapse of the company also began, due to a possible scenario for its privatization”, the announcement of the Skopje administration states.
Tensions between Skopje Mayor Danela Arsovska and VMRO-DPMNE, which supported her in the 2021 local elections but later withdrew their support for her, continue to escalate. Previous urban transport crises, when private carriers refused to serve passengers due to unpaid debts, and the garbage crisis last July have also taken on political overtones.