Skopje, 10 September 2025 (MIA) - This Government did not create the Vardarishte landfill, this is a 35-year process, but we will solve it. We will also solve the Drisla landfill and turn it into a modern European landfill including a plant that produces energy and recycles waste, said Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski on Wednesday.

PM Mickoski told reporters in Gazi Baba that the landfill issue would be solved through public-private partnership, including a public tender and clear criteria.

"There will be NGOs who will be against this but we'll have to persevere. You have to fight for what you believe. I believe this is right and I will fight," said Mickoski.

According to him, the Government arrested for the first time on record the ones who melt cables at Vardarishte in order to take out the copper and sell it. He expects the landfill burning problem to be overcome after a coordination meeting set for later today.

"There is no ad hoc solution. The methane is ignited by one cigarette butt and this is a daily occurrence," said Mickoski.

He noted that NGOs and politicians always emerge whenever there is an attempt to solve the landfill problem and build regional centers for waste storage and processing.

"We all say we don't want waste but we are creating waste. This waste needs to be disposed somewhere. Local NGOs are the first to react why waste should be disposed in their area. There are politicians who think they can score political points by refusing the waste disposal in their areas. A third group says all Government actions aren't good," says Mickoski.

An example of this, he added, is the waste treatment plant near Sveti Nikole, a decision that was taken more than a decade ago.

"The funds for this project are provided by the European Commission, to create a landfill similar to the one in Vienna. And yet again, there are some who are against this. Such a landfill is also projected in Novaci, at the site of the former pit of mining-energy complex (REK) Bitola, but again some people said this is not good. Another landfill is also planned for the Polog region, near Gostivar. We will not have waste when these legal landfills become a reality, also including waste treatment plants that could be used for energy production," said Mickoski.

Photo: MIA