Shuple Kamen residents demand revocation of sand-extraction permit in Pchinja River

Residents of the village of Shuple Kamen in the Kumanovo municipality staged a protest today demanding that the permit allowing sand extraction from the Pchinja River be revoked.

They say a private company began removing sand from the river about ten days ago and has already damaged part of the riverbed. Locals warn that continued extraction will endanger the village’s drinking-water supplies.

Local leaders demand official intervention

The protesters addressed two institutions by name: AD Vodostopanstvo and the Ministry of Environment, which they say issued the permit to the private firm. Villagers say the operation has undermined riverbanks and led to drying of trees along the channel.

"If they extract another meter below the level of the riverbed, the water will withdraw from the wells and from the village water-supply reservoir. That will be a great catastrophe, we will not even have drinking water as we were left without irrigation. If the exploitation continues, they will completely destroy us. Look what they have done in about ten days, rubbish. The riverbed is undercut with high banks, all the trees have dried up. In the project it says arrangement of the riverbed, if this is arrangement, let the responsible officials come and see what they have done," said Goce Stankovski, president of the Shuple Kamen Local Community.

Residents asked authorities to cancel the extraction permit and inspect the site immediately. They said the visible damage to the channel and banks already threatens the village’s wells and the communal reservoir that supplies drinking water.

Protesters also warned that damage to the riverbed could have longer-term consequences for irrigation and local agriculture, and called for transparent publication of the permit documents and the company’s environmental measures.

Photo: SDK.MK)