Forty-seven families in Debar have had a home of their own since yesterday. That is good news and should not be relativised: these are people without parental care, recipients of guaranteed minimum assistance, people hit by natural disasters, people with disabilities and their families, members of the Roma community, and single parents with underage children.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski symbolically handed keys to one family, marking the opening of the new residential building. "May these homes bring them peace, comfort and solace when they need it," he said, announcing that the government will continue investing in projects like this.

Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski placed Debar in a wider run: 29 flats previously allocated in Veles, 32 in Kočani, 21 in Strumica, 19 in Gevgelija. Procedures are under way for Probištip and Sveti Nikole, buildings are in their final phase in Butel and Saraj, construction is running in Prilep, and Štip is planned.

This is real policy with measurable numbers, not a promise. It is worth saying so when something works.

What is worth adding

That same Debar, these same days, is under water restrictions. The public utility Standard introduced first four-hour, then five-hour restrictions in the Venec 1, Venec 2, Taranik and Kjernanica neighbourhoods, and on the upper floors of buildings there is no water for considerably longer.

None of this cancels out what those 47 flats mean. But it raises the question every new tenant in a new building will ask on day one: does water come out of the tap?

Nikoloski announced that 22 infrastructure projects are being carried out in Debar, including a boulevard that will connect the residential building. So the infrastructure is being built. The question is whether the order is right - whether the water system is among those 22 projects, and where on the list it sits.

The keys were handed over, the photographs were taken, the families are moving in. The next photograph worth taking is one of a tap in any of those 47 flats, shot in mid-August, during the restriction hours. That is when we will see how completely "one of the most important questions in life" has actually been solved.