Category: News and Events

However, two and a half years after his election, this promise has not been fulfilled. Mustafa, appearing on “Life in the Muncipality,” said that “the major project” has now begun.

In some parts of town, residents continue to have problems with the strong smell that comes from the sewage that goes into the Mirusha river.

During the electoral campaign, Mustafa had promised to solve this problem. On “Life in the Municipality,” he acknowledged that he had not yet fully implemented the project to clean the sewage. However, according to him, the implementation of the project is on its way.

“I didn’t say that the bad smell would be removed quickly. But, I’ve said that we will start a major project, and we have started this in some areas, and in those places where the project has been completed, there is no more a bad smell,” Mustafa said.

Apart from the stink from the sewage system in Gjlian, tenders “smell funny as well,” Mustafa’s opponents said. During the debate, a number of tenders were mentioned which were given to people close to the mayor or to officials of the municipality.

According to Arben Mehmeti from LDK, the construction of public parking spaces that the municipality of Gjilan has granted have been taken up by the husband of the assistant of the mayor, a charge Mustafa denied. According to Mustafa these parking places have been given to veterans associations, which later gave them to subcontractors.

The mayor was also asked about a tender won by the uncle of Ridvan Asllani, to whom Mustafa had indicated he was indebted in his income declarations.

In response, Mustafa said that the tender- valued at around 1.8 million euros- had nothing to do with the debt.  
“In my income declaration I did not want to lie to the public. I have mentioned every cent that I owe. The tender is not mine, they have given it through legal procedures that have been applied,” Mustafa said.

A tender of 400,000 euros was also contested. This tender was given to Mustafe Shala, who is one of the mayor’s business partners. Mustafa didn’t deny his partnership with Shala, but said the tender wasn’t related to this partnership.

“Mustafa and I are shareholders. That business has nothing to do with the institutions of Kosovo. I am telling you responsibly that the mayor of the municipality of Gjilan hasn’t had a conflict of interest,” the mayor said during the debate.

The municipality of Gjilan has paid Shala 50,000 euross for hotel services at the Hotel Kristal, which is a property owned by the businessmen.

Opponents also contested a tender won by the company ABC, where the wife of the municipality’s legal officer, Vehbi Geci, works.

The administrators of the municipality of Gjilan, meanwhile, said they are proud of their accomplishments. During Mustafa’s mandate, observers have found that a new and more efficient administration has been put in place, parks have been well maintained, collective housing units have been painted, and the construction of the city library has started.

A number of capital projects have also been launched, including 180 kilometers of road, 100 kilometers of public lighting, as well as construction plans for Gjilan.

In the newly established municipality, there are around 160 hectares of greenhouses.  Improving the situation of farmers and farm workers was one of the main electoral promises of Mayor Arif Bytyqi, however little has been done in two and a half years. The successes and shortfalls were discussed on “Life in the Municipality.”

During the electoral campaign, Bytyqi had promised an irrigation system for the fields of Mamushe, a center for preserving and selling agricultural products, as well as the repair of roads that traverse the arable lands of this municipality.

However, two-and-a-half years since he took power in the municipality, none of these promises have been kept.

During “Life in the Municipality,” Bytyqi explained that the project for the irrigation system is expensive and hasn’t been implemented because of lack of funds. However, according to him, this year the municipality will invest in a project that will ensure the irrigation of 50 hectares.

Addressing the plan to build a center for preserving and selling vegetables, Bytyqi said that this project has been implemented in Xerxee of Rahovec, with the request of farmers from Mamushe.

According to him, the municipality was awarded funds from the European Commission to build such a center, however the EC then asked the farmers and they agreed for the center to be built in Xerxëe.

The mayor has pledged to build another similar center in his municipality. Bytyqi also pledged to repair the roads that traverse the arable land during the second half of the year, explaining that the tender has just been opened.

Monitors from BIRN and the GAP Institute have found that some tenders have indeed been won by party supporters and family members. Among others, a contract for supplying water and food to kindergartens and the tender for an ambulance, valued at 35,000 euros, were won by the company Shpetimi, whose owners include municipal advisor Besim Halimi, a member of the PDK.

Automobile insurance is provided by Siguria, which is owned by the deputy head of the municipality. According to Mayor Arifi, the company was chosen because it “offered the lowest prices in the tender.” Meanwhile, the company that supplies fuel for municipal cars, IziPetro, has a representative who is the brother of the municipal director of agriculture.  Arifi said that the contract was signed before the director got his job. “He does not hold this contract anymore.”

During the debate, Arifi boasted that he had built a cemetery for veterans just outside of the municipality of Viti and had overseen construction of the city’s square, parking spaces and road signals. He also touted the completion of a municipal legal structure.

“Together with the opposition we managed to create the commission on a municipal level and by complying with all procedures, the status of the municipality was approved,” he said.

But Hasan Alia from the opposition party LDK said the legal initiative came from his party. Alia also criticised the mayor’s administration. “The administration cannot be considered efficient when it has four or five directors on its board who are working for the first time; it is not an efficient administration when the mayor continually pursues his own interest,” he said.

Vetevendosje members criticized all the parties that are part of the municipal assembly for violating legal provisions. Arton Muslia said that the opposition cannot be freed from responsibility since it has been part of the decisions.

“For two years in a row the (municipal) status hasn’t been approved and the mayor is not the only one responsible for this,” said Muslia, adding: “the opposition does not exist in Viti”.

He proceeded with accusations of budget mismanagement, mentioning that 208,000 euros were expended for maintaining roads; 10,000 euros for paint; 60,000 for the tender to build the dam for irrigation, and others. Apart from expenditures, according to him, the results of these projects are nowhere to be seen.

“The political scene of Viti is depoliticized. In general, politics here is reduced to salaries, per diems, and services, whereas the residents are not able to enjoy the goods that they should have,” Muslia said.

Of the electoral promises of 2009, few have been implemented in practice. Among others, the construction of the bridge at Viti’s outskirts started two years ago, but it hasn’t been completed. The municipality says that works have been suspended because of the objections of one resident.

In addition, the lack of a municipal building has caused the municipal administration to continue to work in seven different facilities.

 

Two and a half years after his election, one of the main electoral promises, the steady supply of drinking water, seems to be making good progress. Suhareka now has 200 liters more water per second.  With the help of international donors, wells have been dug, and work is being done to extend the water supply system to villages.

Kuci, who is from the AAK, said that the city, which had been ruled by LDK since the war, now has water 24 hours a day. “Before my mandate there was never water … we have paid special attention to water,” he said.

Opposition parties, meanwhile, say that the problem hasn’t been solved but there has been some progress with the help of USAID.

Florim Kryeziu from PDK said that in some villages of Suhareka, the lack of drinking water continues to be a problem.
“Another five million euros are needed to supply all the villages of Theranda with water,” Kuci said. He would not promise that during his mandate all villages would have drinking water.

During the electoral campaign Kuci also promised to provide subsidies for farmers. Speaking on “Life in the Municipality”, he said that 2 million euros have been distributed, but the opposition says that subsidies have gone mainly to Kuci’s political party supporters.

Kuci said that a municipal agency has now been established that is tasked with supporting the farmers by drafting projects and raising funds to develop agriculture. Through this agency, according to Kuci, 2 million euros in subsidies have been given to farmers.

However, Shefket Kolgeci from the LDK said that subsidies for farmers haven’t reached the “right addresses”.
“Farmers subsidies have gone to those who favor members of his party, and those who gave their ballots during the campaign,” Kolgeci said.

The opposition also accused the mayor of mismanaging the budget.  Kolgeci said that the peak of mismanagement was the construction of the bridge over river Theranda.

“This project started in August of 2011, while the money was given in 2010. But work still hasn’t started,” he said.

The team of observers from BIRN and GAP have found that the electoral promises kept include the construction of protective barriers on the road from Qafa e Duhles to Suhareka; the elimination of a requirement that parents must pay their property tax before receiving a birth certificate for their newborn child, and Mayor Kuci’s meetings with residents, which occur every Tuesday. But Kuci’s promise to cut unemployment has not been realized.

The residents of the municipality of Theranda that participated in the debate asked Kuci about a range of issues- from unemployment to the general infrastructure of the municipality.

Rifat Bilalli of the Democratic League of Dardania said during a debate broadcast on Radio Television of Kosovo that “the roads, pipe systems, and water supply systems that have been built are of extremely low quality.”

“The pipes have only been ‘buried,’ while they barely function,” Bilall said.

According to the opposition, the most grandiose promise made by Drenas Mayor Nexhat Demaku- to build an industrial center- has remained simply a pre-election promise.

“The Industrial Business Center in front of the Business Park has not yet been started… the deadlines which mayor Demaku talked about have failed; they passed long ago,” said Petrit Bajraktari from Vetevendosje.

Bekim Dobra, a Koha Ditore journalist who is from Drenas, said that this major project hasn’t started yet, even though the mayor promised that it would be built within the two years following the election.

Mayor Demaku, meanwhile, said the municipality has done a lot to repair infrastructure, such as roads, sewage systems and water supply systems.

During the show, Demaku was praised for building the central square in Drenas, the Ali Bajraktari school and public housing.
The team of observers from BIRN and the GAP Institute also found that Demaku fulfilled some campaign promises, including the construction of the Fehmi Lladrovci high school, the renovation of the local emergency room and the establishment of subsidies for farmers.

But others haven’t been fulfilled, including repairing the Drenas riverbed, improving the safety conditions at the aging Arllati school, and minimal repair done to the roads of the Shtutice and Cikatove villages.

Another problem that was raised during the debate was the transportation of students in vans to schools in the Arllat and Llapushnik villages. The transport was arranged by the municipality, however a commission has determined that student safety is threatened because the vans are overloaded with students, and have at times been driven by individuals under the age of 18.

Mayor Demaku was not able to justify the decision to again award the tender to a company owned by the brothers Thaci and managed by the municipal advisor, Elmi Thaci, despite the complaints.

Another promise of Mayor Demaku during the 2009 campaign was the repair of the sewage treatment plant. The opposition and civil society groups said the project hasn’t been fully implemented, despite some progress.

Demaku said work has started on the plant in Korretice, in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce. “But it hasn’t been fully implemented because of opposition by some residents,” he explained.

Drenas residents that participated in the debate asked the mayor about issues including road infrastructure, sewage systems and the water supply system in their villages. Demaku said the budget of the municipality is around 9.4 million euros, which is smaller than some other municipalities with less territory and fewer residents.

It was one part of 10 BIRN presentations on electoral procedures in the municipalities of Obiliq, Mitrovica, Drenas, Fushe Kosove, Suhareka, Kamenica, Prizren, Ferizaj, Hani i Elezit and in Gjilan that were held during October and November 2012.

These presentations gathered 200 first-time voters. They were trained on the electoral process focusing on election frauds, complaint procedures, available penalties, and competent institutions to deal with complaints.

The presentations focused on electoral complaint procedures and institutions. First, the BIRN team offered a comprehensive presentation on these procedures, followed with concrete examples of how BIRN has monitored elections.

The presentations lasted about an hour and were followed with an exercise, in which high school students were presented with an imaginary case.

The BIRN team worked closely with students in order to explain to them how to fill the complaint, what evidence is acceptable for ECAP, how to present evidence in ECAP and other legal elements of the complaints.

After students competed in finding electorial violations, trainers engaged them in discussion.

Questions included: How a witness of a violation during the election should report the case to the relevant institutions? How should a person react, in cases when he or she has been present at the time and place where the violation has occurred? Will there be ask risk to them for reporting the violations?

The United Nations Development Program, in collaboration with Kosovo’s Anti-Corruption Agency and the Association of Professional Journalists in Kosovo, awarded the prizes for the seventh year.

Parim Olluri, a journalist for BIRN’s Gazeta Jeta ne Kosovo, received the award for the best article on issues of corruption in online media.

He was recognized for a series of articles about Kosovo’s prime minister and several well-known businessmen who are close to him.

The jury said Olluri was honoured for the quality of his articles, the impact they had, and his persistence in following up on the stories.  

Kreshnik Gashi and Alban Selimi received the award for best anti-corruption TV investigation. The two BIRN journalists produced a story on bribery within the ranks of the police, which was part of BIRN’s “Justice in Kosovo” program.

The jury commended Gashi and Selimi for the content of their story as well as the manner in which they carried out their investigation

The award for print media went to journalists Vehbi Kajtazi and Besnik Krasniqi from Koha Ditore daily. Jeton Llapashtica of Zeri newspaper was also recognized.

Imer Mushkolaj, executive director of the Association of Professional Journalists of Kosovo, told the journalists that their work is crucial to Kosovo’s development.

“The media cannot win the war against corruption, yet without the media, the war against corruption is impossible,” he told those gathered.