Форуми во заедницата

    More than 150 citizens of Debar took part in the sixth session of the Community Forums Programme, casting their vote to choose the three projects to be funded with MKD 6 million, funds from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the local self-government of Debar with MKD 2 million.

  In the restaurant Panestija, at the Culture Center, in the presence of Romain Darbellay, Head of SDC, Mayor Argetim Fida, and others, the citizens of Debar voted in support of the following projects: Reconstruction and repairs of the facade and plateau and sidewalks of the old building and gym of the Bratstvo Edinstvo elementary school, with a budget of MKD 3,406,748; Construction of an entertainment park in the Breshia kindergarten, which got MKD 3,234,056; and the project to purchase Teaching Aids and Textbooks for the Library of the Said Najdeni elementary school, with MKD 979,106.
    Since the project proposal to develop a project for construction of the Zdravko Cockovski high-school in Debar did not get the necessary number of votes, the Mayor of Debar, Argetim Fida, said in the forum that this project would be funded by the local authorities.
    The forum, working in nine groups, voted on eight projects, because in the meantime funds from another donor were obtained for the ninth project, Reconstruction of the Heating System in the Said Najdeni elementary school.
    SDC representative Romain Darbellay said to the citizens of Debar that the projects supported by the citizens are the ones which have priority, because the citizens know best what are the priorities.
    He congratulated the citizens of Debar on their attendance in the work of the forums and said that for those projects which were not accepted due to the limited funds the local authorities would find other donors.
    The Mayor of Debar, Argetim Fida, underlined the strong support for the Forum displayed by the citizens of Debar. “The most important thing is that due to this project, instead of nine project designers, Debar now has over 100 citizens who know how to develop projects,” said Fida.
    He underlined his belief that the other projects that were not accepted due to limited funding were very important, and said he believed that donors would be found for the already prepared projects.
    The citizens welcomed the Programme, emphasizing that the way it was done was very good. Vjolca Sadiku, Koha’s correspondent from Debar, said that the Programme is very important because the citizen’s voice is of primary importance.
    Ivana Ivanovska from the NGO sector believes that the way the Programme was set up was very good, because it attracted massive participation in its implementation as well as objectivity in the decision-making. For Pelumb Frangu, school master of Said Najdeni elementary, the Programme has achieved its goal because the choice of the projects involved all citizens interested in helping choose the best projects.