The companies which have contracts with the municipality of Podujevo are likely to receive the payments owed in months or even years.
Agim Veliu, the mayor of Podujevo, did not deny the fact that a substantial part of the budget of the municipality has been spent to pay damages, but he called this a mere fulfillment of obligations.
“Sometimes there are debts; it can happen that a project is projected to cost a specific amount, however unplanned things come up during implementation and as a result of this there are more demands. This is not damage, but a mere fulfillment of obligations,” Veliu said during the debate.
Members of the opposition, however, have their own explanations for why the municipality of Podujevo is short on cash and is unable to fulfill its obligations toward contractors.
According to Blerim Maqastena from Vetevendosje, the municipality spends around 360,000 euros per year on oil. “You have spent around 360,000 euros on oil- around 1,000 euros per day. I do not know how they are spending this or what they do with 1,000 euros of oil products in a day,” Maqastena said.
But Veliu denied these figures. He said that the sum is much smaller, without giving specific figures. Meanwhile he argued that Maqastena was misleading the public. “This is malicious misinformation that Vetevendosje knows how to do.
The truth is very different, the expenses for oil are much smaller, even though not much smaller, but we use the oil for heating in schools, ambulances, fire engines, and so on,” Veliu said.