In the Saraj municipality, a project worth more than six million euros has begun - the regulation of the Suva Reka riverbed, meant to permanently solve the flooding that has poisoned life for residents along the river for decades. Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski personally inspected the start of the works.

The project is financed through the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning and covers the regulation of the riverbed over a length of 12 kilometres, from the village of Bojane to Glumovo, where the Suva Reka flows into the Treska. It will be carried out in phases and is due to be completed in 2029. The mayor of Saraj, Ilijas Veseli, called it one of the biggest investments the municipality has ever received.

„For years the residents lived in fear of floods, and today that chapter is starting to close,“ Veseli said, adding that construction officially began on 7 July. Mickoski, for his part, said the government remains committed to meeting the obligations it has taken on and that „problems that have piled up over decades cannot be solved overnight.“

And here is the part that calls for a cool head. Regulating a riverbed so that houses don't flood is exactly what the state is supposed to do - it is not a favour, it is the basic job. If the project really is finished and really does protect those villages, that is good news, and it deserves to be said as such.

But „for decades“ is the word that keeps slipping back in. If the floods have been repeating for decades, then the start of works in 2026 is no triumph - it is a belated answer to a problem that should have been solved long ago. Promises for 2029 come cheap today. The real test will be whether in three years there is a finished riverbed - or one more ribbon cut, with the water flowing again wherever it likes. Until then, the residents of Saraj will be keeping an eye on the sky.