Mobile Parliament Citizen’s association MOST
Mobile Parliament
Report on a public meeting between members of Parliament and citizens from the EU 2 conducted in Gazi Baba municipality
Topic of public meeting:
“Resolving the traffic problems due to securing increased safety and protection of the road users”
Hall of the Council of Gazi Baba municipality
03.12.2007
EXECUTIVE SUMMERY AND CONCLUSIONS
Road traffic crashes are the reasons for the lost of human life and goods, and they are caused by the bad road network. Lead by this reasons the citizens from the three municipalities: Gazi Baba, Petrovec and Ilinden, accompanied by the 12 local communities from Avtokomanda, Triangle, Madzari 1, Hipodrom, Trubarevo, Goce Delcev, Jurumleri, Kolonija- Idrizovo, Petrovec, Rzanicino and Katlanovo have formed Initiative board that is participated by the presidents of the Elementary schools Parents’ councils and representatives of the local driving schools.
The goal of the citizens’ initiative is construction of the pedestrian and bicycle zones for improvement of the safety on the public roads from the Gas station (Industriska) in Avtokomanda settlement to Madzari and of the road P-103 to Katlanovo.
The problem is old over 19 years. Every initiative and attempts have failed, and the citizens (more than 55.000) and their children (more than 5.200) are considered about their safety.
According to the legislation, the item public roads are in the filed of goods for public use, and the construction, reconstruction, maintenance of the public roads are acts of public interest of the Republic (Law on public roads).
Are the competent bodies and institutions concerned about the safety of the road users in accordance to the legal competences, and what is the contribution of the activates and responsibilities taken by the institutions towards decreasing the road traffic trashes?
“Resolving the traffic problems due to securing increased safety and protection of the road users” was the topic of the public meeting organized in the frames of the Mobile Parliament project by the Office for Contact between the NGOs and Parliament of R Macedonia in the municipality of Gaza Baba, Election Unit 2.
Participants
- The meeting was attended by the MPs: Mrs. Blagorodna Dulic (VMRO-DPMNE), Ms. Slavica Grkovska (SDSM) and Mr. Saban Saliu (DUR);
- Mr. Trpevski, representative of Fund for National and Regional Roads;
- 40 citizens, members of NGOs, media;
- Moderator of the meeting was Mr. Ljupco Cvetanovski, journalist.
Discussion
The meeting started with introduction of the mission and activities being implemented by MOST and short explanation of the rules for discussing. The citizens stressed out the up to day problems and accidents that have occurred on the public roads from the gas station Industriska in Avtokomanda in direction to Madzari and the road P – 103 to Katlanovo. Their recommendation and demands to the competent organs of the City of Skopje, municipalities, the Fund for National and Regional Roads and Ministry of Transport and communications are to undertake concrete activities for reconstruction of the roads, construction of pedestrian and bicycle zones, marking the rotas and mounting traffic signs, soft shoulders and reconstruction of the traffic networks.
At the same time they asked the MPs from Election Unit 2 to be interested in this problem and to help, because the safety of the citizens is jeopardized every day, human life are being lost all the time and they are concerned about the safety of their children who walk this road s to their schools.
The following conclusions/ recommendations were passed after the discussion was finished:
1. To accept the initiative for developing a Project for construction of pedestrian and bicycle zones on the road P – 103 in direction from the gas station (Industriska) in Avtokomanda to Madzari and Katlanovo settlements.
2. To initiate the competent bodies to secure funds for this project with complete technical papers and feasibility studies, as part of the Program for development of the road network.
3. To strengthen the inter municipality cooperation, the mayors to point out the citizens’ needs for construction of pedestrian zones and protection of the rood users; this issue to be highlighted on the session of the Coordinative board of Mayors of the City of Skopje.
4. On the bases of expert analyses, the Fund for National and Regional Roads to anticipate funds in the annual and long term Programs for development of the road network.
5. While constructing public roads, the competent state institutions to respect the technical regulations and standards prescribed by the competent Ministry.
6. The MPs from the Election Unit 2 to raise a Representative question to the competent Ministry and to demand information on the traffic safety, condition of the road network and to ask the competent institution if they respect the legal regulations.
7. To enact a law and to prescribe and clarify the competences of the local self government and the Government regarding the maintenance, reconstruction and protection of the road network.
8. The citizens to demand in institutional way to resolve the problem and to raise funds for implementation of the Project, in the frames of the positive legal solutions.
9. Unless certain measures for resolving the problems are taken, the local citizens are ready to undertake radical steps, to organize protests and blockades of the traffic, as e revolt to the central and local institutions.
These conclusions and recommendations will be forwarded to all 120 members of Parliament of R Macedonia, competent Ministries, local self government and citizens.
The Citizen’s association MOST sincerely hopes that these recommendations and conclusions will be advocated and taken into consideration while resolving this problem.
Analysis of the topic
Are the competent institutions and bodies concerned over the safety of the road users in accordance with the legal competences? What is the contribution of the undertaken activities towards prevention and reducing the road traffic crashes?
The road traffic crashes are caused more often by the bad road network, poor traffic lights and signs, unmarked roads, lack of pedestrian and bicycles zones, underground and above ground crossings and lack of legally prescribed bus stops on the roads.
According to the stats and official reports from the competent institutions, on the roads from the Gas station (Industriska) in Avtokomnada to Madzari and on the road P – 103 towards Katlanovo, in 2006 there were 10 victims and 56 heavily wounded, and in 2007 there were 3 dead persons and 34 heavily wounded. Unfortunately the number increases all the time and the competent local and central institutions do not undertake concrete steps for overcoming the citizens’ problem.
According to the legal regulations, the public roads are goods of public usage, and the construction, reconstruction, maintenance and protection of the public roads are activities of a public interest of R Macedonia (Law on public roads). According to the Law on the City of Skopje (Official Gazette of R Macedonia No 55/04), the City of Skopje is a separate local self government unit and in accordance with the competences (Article 10, Paragraph 4, Communal activities) is competent for construction, usage, protection and maintenance of the motorways and local roads. The Article 12 from the Law anticipates that in accordance with subsidiary provision, the city has the right on the territory of the City of Skopje to undertake activities of public interest important for the citizens which are not excluded from its competences, or are not in the competences of local institutions or Government. Additionally, for each project to be implemented the, municipality prior to it, needs to get positive opinion from the City of Skopje and agreement from the competent Governmental institutions. The legal solutions anticipate the City of Skopje and the Skopje’s municipalities to have a mutual cooperation, to initiate enactment of acts and measures for the joint interest of the City of Skopje, to exchange information and materials in their field of interests and to carry out concrete activities. The Coordinative Board of the mayors was formed to resolve such problems.
According to the Law on public roads, the inspection of the conditions of the local roads and streets of the City of Skopje is being done by the Certified Inspector for roads in the City of Skopje. The Inspector is responsible for the conditions of the traffic, applying of the regulations, technical rules and standards in construction, maintenance and protection of the local roads. The Inspection of the legitimacy of the work of the institutions of the municipalities and the City of Skopje responsible for construction, reconstruction, maintenance and protection of the local roads and streets on the territory of the City of Skopje is being done by the governmental instaurations competent for the transport issues.
The competences of the Fund for National and Regional Roads are: implementation of the annual and long term construction program; reconstruction, maintenance and protection of the public roads; monitoring and analysis of the reconstruction process; maintenance and protection of the public roads, taking measures for economical spending of the funds for development of the public roads; developing studies and projects in the field of public roads and objects on it; delegation of the responsibilities for maintenance and protection of the public roads to the Public Enterprise for roads and determination of the mutual rights and competences; determination of methodology for assessment of the values of the public roads and amortization of it and other competences.
Even though this citizen’s initiative was submitted to several local and state institutions and was demanded to undertake concrete activities in order to solve the citizens’ problem, the answers were that the problem did not lay in the competences prescribed by the law.
The answer that was sent by the National Security Council to the citizens was that there were funds for reconstruction of certain public roads, but it is essential to develop project and the very same one to be placed in the Program for reconstruction of the road network for the coming year.
The citizens are not happy with the view of some institutions on this problem, passive behaviour and transferring the competences from one intuition to another.
In order to encourage the intuitions to resolve the problem, the citizens from the above mentioned local communities are ready to undertake the following activities: boycott elections (local and parliamentary elections); forbidding the children to go to schools; organizing protests before competent institutions; blockades of the traffic in the above mentioned settlements and other activities in order to express their revolt.
In the proposed 2008 Budget, the developing element in the Program 2010 is underlined; the sum of the capital investments from the previous years is increased from 12.5 billion denars for 2007 to 14.1 billion denars for 2008, and 21.5 billion denars for 2009. Part of the capital investment funds in figures 4.6 billion denars through the Fund for National and Regional Roads are planned to be spent on construction of road network: 500 million denars for local roads, 200 million denars for investing maintenance and 3.9 billion denars for the already started investments in several roads throughout the country.
Since 23.11.2007, the Ministry of Transport and communications in the frames of the CARDS Program 2006, through the technical assistance from the European Agency for Reconstruction, has developed a proposal of a Law on Public roads, with aim to make a clear distinguish of the competences of the local governments and the Government and to define the types of roads and their construction, reconstruction and maintenance.
About the project
The Citizen’s association MOST works in the direction for building more stable, more prosperous and more democratic Macedonia by education and involvement of the citizens in the decision making processes.
Due to the fact that the active citizens strengthen the democracy, in the realization of its projects MOST starts from the basic principle: increasing the transparency, accountability and cooperation of the Parliament and the election organs by education and organization of the citizens, initiating activities for improving the legal system and citizen’s monitoring of the democratic processes.
Within the framework of the program Responsive institutions, and through the Office for contact between the NGOs and the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia, MOST initiated the realization of the fourth phase of the project Mobile Parliament. The project is consisted of meetings of MPs from different parliamentary groups with citizens of all election districts discussing on topics of public interest for the area where the meetings are held.
Part of this program is the Office for contact between the NGOs and the Parliament of R Macedonia (www.kancelarija.org.mk). This office is a service for the citizens, NGOs and the parliamentarians.
Similarly, the first free of charge internet service www.pravo.org.mk, is a part of the Office for contact. The web page is composed of a database of laws enacted in R Macedonia, analyzes of the laws which are to be enacted, judiciary practise of the Supreme Court of R Macedonia and the latest information regarding the legislation.
The main objective of the project Mobile Parliament remains the need to improve the communication between the Members of Parliament and the citizens. The idea to bring the Parliament closer to the citizens is the basis for participation of the citizens in the decision making process and further successful implementation of the laws. This relation shall strengthen the foundation for development of democratic society.
This project is targeted for all the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia older than 18, i.e. with a right to vote, as well as for the elected Members of Parliament and the local authorities officials.
We do hope the representatives of the local self government with proposals and recommendations will contribute towards successful realization of this project.
You shall find attached to this report a list of participants in the meeting.
APPENDIX: Participants list [1]
No / Name / Surname / Representative/citizen1. / Aleksandra / Korunovski / Citizen
2. / Nebin / Jasarovski / Citizen
3. / Jonuz / Ljujmanov / Citizen
4. / Trajce / Georgievski / President of EB
5. / Kiro / Stevanoski / Member of EB
6. / Jovan / Mazganski / ЕКО – Mission
7. / Blasko / Mitkovski / ЕКО - Mission
8. / Dime / Kostadinovski / Member of EB
9. / Natasa / Smilevska / Council of parents
10. / Toni / Sazdov / Council of parents, President
11. / Aneta / Dzigereva / Council of parents
12. / Elizabeta / Markovska / ISC
13. / Vanco / Gorgievski / Citizen
14. / Jovan / Atanasovski / Citizen
15. / Mirko / Angelovski / President, Local Comuniti Goce Delcev
16. / Venko / Krstev / Citizen
17. / Gjorgji / Bozinovski / Citizen
18. / Aleksandar / Jovanovski / Citizen
19. / Mile / Nikolovski / Citizen
20. / Predrag / Kraljevski / Citizen
21. / Dusko / Stojanovski / Driving school/ member of EB
22. / Borce / Kostevski / Council of parents / member of EB
23. / Ilija / Jovkov / Citizen
24. / Slobodan / Pavlov / Local community Avtokomanda