Skopje is drowning in garbage again, and this time the reason is shamefully specific: out of four specialized trucks for lifting the large containers, only one works. The other three have been sitting broken for months, waiting on spare parts that never arrive because of tangled public-procurement procedures.

You can see the result and smell it on every corner. The containers are overflowing, and little dumps of bags, cardboard and waste are sprouting up around them. With temperatures topping 40 degrees, this isn't just an eyesore - it's public health, insects, rodents and a stench in neighborhoods packed with people.

The acting director of the city sanitation utility confirms what residents are already living: of the four purpose-built vehicles, exactly one is currently running. As a fix, the city is announcing the construction of two modern transfer stations where waste will be collected and sorted before being hauled to the "Drisla" landfill by bigger trucks.

It sounds reasonable - in the long run. But the resident staring at a mountain of trash under their window today can't wait for a transfer station. The question everyone is asking is simple: how does a capital city get to the point where three of four trucks sit broken, and the procedure for a single spare part drags on for months? That isn't a lack of money - it's a lack of a system. And while the system is "being built," summer doesn't wait, and the garbage waits even less.