Skopje, 10 November 2025 (MIA) – Over 4,500 tons of waste, which is four to five times more than any usual weekend waste collection in Skopje, were collected as part of the cleanup action kicked off by the new mayor of Skopje, Orce Gjorgjievski as soon as he took office last week.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday evening in Macedonia square in downtown Skopje, after the conclusion of the 72-hour cleanup campaign, Gjorgjievski said the campaign was successful. It included over 2,500 workers, he stated.

“We successfully completed this activity we’d promised we would do in 72 hours even though at first it seemed unrealistic because public enterprise structures have been decimated in terms of organization and the mechanisation at disposal. After I took office, I said the Communal Hygiene [public enterprise] had 16 trucks. Today we have over 40 and we intend to secure some 60 functioning trucks. It means we will be independently operational. We’ve bypassed it and socially responsible companies have been helping us as well as the mayors of Tetovo, Kavadarci, Shtip, Veles, etc,” Gjorgjievski said.

Micro-landfills, he added, including in Macedonia square, the City Park, Woman’s Park, the riverbed of Vardar, the landfill near the Butel City Cemetery were cleaned. Also, Vardarishte landfill is being cleaned. 

“In addition to the micro-landfills, the Vardar riverbed has also been cleaned, and after almost 10 years, the artificially created islands of soil and various deposits have been cleaned. The square had not been washed for a long time, the entire ground landscaping, the bridge, the City Park, Woman's Park – all the places that were considered shameful in Skopje in the past, were also cleaned. I will not allow the ugly picture we saw in Skopje to be repeated,” pledged Gjorgjievski.

An operational plan is in the works, he announced, and the focus in the winter will be on solving this situation and construction works are expected in the spring.

“Skopje should be at peace because they have someone they can rely on and someone who will do his best with his team to prevent the adversity we’d gone through in the past four years,” concluded Gjorgjievski. 

Photo: MIA