Jurumleri Waited Decades for a Sewer: It's Getting One for 144 Million Denars, With the Prime Minister Beside the Digger

In 2026, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski went to Jurumleri to mark the start of digging for a sewage system. "This settlement will get a sewage system the way it should have one in the 21st century," he said. The century is already in its 26th year, but better late than never.

The mayor of Gazi Baba, Boban Stefkovski, openly called it what it is: a problem decades old. The new phase of the vacuum sewage system is worth around 144 million denars, financed through the government's programme for municipalities. It covers a new 4.5-kilometre network, more precisely 4,380 metres according to the municipality itself, household connections, a fault-monitoring system and a treatment plant module for 1,500 residents. The municipality previously built another 4,072 metres from its own budget.

For residents this is a real benefit. The question is why a project for something so basic has to come with a prime minister and cameras, and on the very day of the closing rally in Brvenica. A sewer is a municipal service, not a gift. The money comes from the budget, meaning from taxpayers, not from anyone's personal pocket.

The published statements give no date for when the first household will be connected. Mickoski announced new projects through the next government call, in the second half of next year. How many more settlements in the capital are waiting for something that in the 21st century should go without saying?