municipalities accuse the government of lack of funding in projects

Some of Kosovo's municipalities are accusing the government of lack of support and funding in various projects.

In the municipality of Prizren, Lipjan and Elez Khan, the difficulties of co-operation with the central level are great. According to them, the government has made budgetary discrimination in municipalities belonging to political parties, opposed to the ruling party.

The deputy chairman of the Prizren municipality, Kujtim Gashi, says of Kosova Prees, that central level support for this municipality is very small, in addition to their demands and needs. He adds that bureaucracy in the ministry of the lines is causing major delays, as is the case with carrying budgetary means from the previous year.

“If I refer to central level support, actually from ministries for projects that are important in various areas, there is a lack of funding from the central level. The Prizren municipality is the second municipality in Kosovo for the number of residents and for its many demands and needs. In this sense central level support is very small, exclusively projects that were started years ago and now realised. Otherwise, new projects, projects that the municipality has consistently made are not of that level. What is worse than that is the bureaucracy existing in various ministries, in the sense of co-ordination. The particular point is that the Communist Assembly decisions imposed on the ministry of the line have extraordinary delays, as is the case with the delivery of tools from the previous year”, Gashi says.

Meanwhile, Lipjan Community Chairman Imri Ahmeti says the problems with the government are more pronounced in the cases of budgetary reviews and the carrying of its own revenues. According to him, the biggest delays are in stocking and their commitment to specific projects.

The “Problems are more pronounced in the budget revision cases, as the resuscitation of the são. Also, in carrying his own income. Of course, there's a lot of delays in stockings because we need the commitment of the tools to publish specific projects on our agenda. The difficulties are not small, in the sense of communication that should have local power with central power. All of this follows in procrastinating project applet”, Ahmeti declares.

The severest criticism of the executive addresses Elez's Khan Community Chairman Mehmet Ballage.

He expresses his displeasure, as he says of the government's failure to support the municipality he leads. We've expressed our concerns about a faint co-operation with the central level, even though that would have meant that. We are part of Kosovo's territory and are part of its territorial integrity. It's not like I have any pleasure in this cooperation, which has never happened to past governments. There had to be no budget discrimination, as there were seen to be municipalities belonging to political parties, opposed to the government in power. That had to change. I personally as mayor am not satisfied with the cooperation that so far we have”, Balazi points out.

Despite criticism of municipalities led by opposition parties in Kosovo, Prime Minister Albin Kurti has consistently stressed that the executive's support to the local level has increased during his rule.