Форуми во заедницата

 Infrastructure is the topic chosen by the citizens of Bitola, who in the following months will participate with their ideas in determining the priorities for improving their daily life, as part of the Community Forums Programme. This was the conclusion of the first forum session that took place on the 29th November in the school Elpida Karamandi and was attended by around 180 citizens of Bitola.

 The topic was chosen with a majority of 130 votes, out of the three topics proposed and presented by the municipality – infrastructure, waste, and sports and leisure.
    “The city needs projects of this kind and I expect the financial means to be used accordingly”, said the pensioner Atanasija Drakulovski (63) at the beginning of the Programme in this municipality.
    The first session, besides by the citizens of Bitola, was also attended by representatives of the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency (donor of 4 million MKD), representatives of the local government (participant with 2 million MKD), and representatives of the implementing organization in this municipality, the Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation (MCIC).
    “The development of democracy on a local level, where the citizens will be active participants in the decision-making, is very important”, said the representative of SDC, Ibrahim Mehmeti.
    At the first forum session, the structure of the forum (working tables for presentation of the interests of the citizens) was formed.
    Participating in a working table means participation in the process of voting for a project, which will take place at the last, seventh forum session, and each working table will have one vote, regardless of the number of participants at the table.
    “The Municipality of Bitola is prepared to work for the benefit of its citizens and include them in policy-creation for a better future”, said the mayor Vladimir Taleski at the opening of the forum session.
    Bitola is one of the eight municipalities chosen for the second cycle for the second phase of the Programme, which should include around 25 municipalities in the next three years.