"Is There No End to This Madness?": Filipche Accuses Institutions of Staying Silent While Over 3,000 People Were Poisoned in Gostivar
The prosecution opened an investigation only after public outcry, and at one point authorities declared the water safe to drink, claims the SDSM leader, who is demanding resignations and criminal accountability
The water contamination in Gostivar began in late June, but institutions stayed silent and failed to react — and at one point the water was even declared safe to drink. These are the key accusations SDSM leader Venko Filipche presented at a press conference dedicated to the health crisis which, according to him, ended with the poisoning of more than 3,000 citizens.
"And they declared the water drinkable. Is there no end to this madness? Who are these people running the state? Do they know what they are doing?" Filipche asked, visibly angered by the conduct of the responsible authorities.
He pointed out that the Public Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation only after the public outcry, and not on the basis of reports from the Ministry of Health or the Food and Veterinary Agency — the institutions that should have sounded the alarm first.
"Water quality is not an investigative secret"
Filipche also sharply criticized the invocation of "investigation secrecy" as an excuse for withholding information of vital importance to public health.
"This is a dangerous switching of theses. Because the quality of the water is not a secret within the investigation — it is a fact of public health significance. Citizens simply must know this fact," he said.
According to the opposition leader, precisely this approach allowed the epidemic to spread: "As a result of this approach, over 3,000 people were poisoned in Gostivar. So while the prosecution maneuvered tactically, and all the health institutions and authorities stayed silent, the epidemic was spreading in Gostivar."
Demands for resignations and criminal accountability
Filipche demanded political accountability from the Minister of Health, the directors of public health institutions, the Food and Veterinary Agency, and the Prosecutor's Office.
"We demand political accountability and resignations from these people, because they have been playing games with the health of the citizens," he stated, also calling for urgent extraordinary inspections and chemical-microbiological analyses of all water supply stations in the country, with the results made public immediately.
