The mayor of Centar municipality, Goran Gerasimovski, was blunt: "I am ashamed when I take my children to school, when we have to jump over garbage to reach the schoolyard." He made the statement on TV Telma in the show "Top Tema."

Gerasimovski said that Centar municipality is prepared to take over responsibility for public sanitation if the City of Skopje does not fulfill its obligations. The city is reportedly making efforts - with government support - to procure vehicles to address the problem.

But the bottom line is simple: the mayor of a central Skopje municipality publicly admits that his children jump over garbage on the way to school. This is not a budget or vehicle problem - it is a problem of priorities. And when even the mayor is powerless, what is left for ordinary citizens?