Mexhiti called the Old Bazaar a priority and showed off Chair's master plan on the ground: He didn't mention the cost or the deadlines

The mayor of Chair, Izet Mexhiti, spoke publicly about the municipality's future twice in recent days. First at the "Rhythm of the Bazaar" festival in Skopje's Old Bazaar, together with Skopje mayor Orce Gjorgjievski and representatives of the craftsmen's guild. Second on the ground, with Turkish urban planner and architect Bayram Vardar, under whose direction the municipality's urban development master plan was drawn up.

"The Old Skopje Bazaar is one of Skopje's most valuable treasures and an inseparable part of its historical and cultural identity," Mexhiti said at the festival, adding that the Bazaar "deserves attention, investment and concrete commitment" and remains among the municipality's undisputed priorities. The festival promoted the Bazaar's crafts, traditions and cultural heritage.

The more practical part came with the inspection of the master plan projects. Mexhiti and Vardar looked at the works on Ferid Murati and Mithat Frashëri streets, as well as the widening of Cvetan Dimov boulevard. According to the announcements, the goal is a more functional urban environment, better traffic and modernised public spaces, and the master plan is supposed to link infrastructure modernisation with preserving Chair's historical and cultural identity.

Sounds good. But from the two appearances, residents didn't learn the three things that concern them most: the cost of the master plan, the cost of the works and the deadlines for finishing them. "Attention, investment and concrete commitment" are nice words - but the Bazaar and the boulevard will be measured by numbers and deadlines, which this time stayed out of the press releases.