Veles - One Civic Action   Battle for the future of the town   The civic action for the environment in Veles has been going on for more than 15 years and its success will be an answer to the questions - has the development of democracy in our country reached the level when the citizens have the last word; when the civic interest is above the profit; when citizens realize dialogue and cooperation with the business sector and the government bodies; when the awareness for healthy environment with the government and economic subjects has reached the level required for the process of EU association... Marijana Ivanova   "The lead and zinc Smeltery in Veles, that is, today's Investas, was established in 1973. Since then, it has been the greatest pollutant in Veles and in Macedonia. UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme) in their its post-conflict assessment of the environment (2000, after the attacks against Yugoslavia), have numbered the Smeltery in the five "hottest" ecological points in the R. of Macedonia, and indicates to it as a place that needs to be taken care of in order to stop the risk for people and environmental health. ...According to UNEP, the Smeltery emits large amounts of sulphur dioxide and powder with lead, zinc and cadmium. Sun rarely shines in Veles. When you approach it, driving along the Skopje - Athens road, the first sign of it is the Smeltery, and if you try harder, you might be able to notice one of the most beautiful, old towns in Macedonia, the former center of culture and trade. It is the town, located in the heart of Macedonia and the South Balkans where many artists, writers and fighter were born and spend their lives... ...The citizens' awareness is growing while they are losing their patience. They have been poisoned for thirty years, you can rarely meet a child without respiration disease. However, the promises that in 10, 15 or 30 days the resolutions will be put into force never stop. The concentration of lead, cadmium and zinc emissions have always been exceeding the maximum allowed limits and have been increasing for years..." This is part of the letter that the ecological association "Vila Zora" from Veles and the Macedonian Ecologists' Movement have send to follow the action for sanation of the several-decade pollution in Veles and for introducing new technological solutions that will enable the Smeltery to work according to the modern standards for environmental protection without which Macedonia could not become part of the European Union. The civic action for Veles is not new. It has been going on for more than 15 years, involving journalists, citizens, and experts. NGOs. However, apart from alarming for the problem, no concrete step has been taken. Will the present reinforced campaign, implemented by the Veles and Skopje NGOs, the Macedonian Ecologists' Movement and supported by the Minister of Environment, the Ombudsman and several home and foreign donations change anything? The answer will also be an answer to the questions - has the development of democracy in our country reached the level when the citizens have the last word; when the civic interest is above the profit; when citizens realize dialogue and cooperation with the business sector and the government bodies; when the awareness for healthy environment with the government and economic subjects has reached the level required for the process of EU association...   Appeal to the Macedonian public Let us sanate the consequences of pollution   The EA "Vila Zora" from Veles, in cooperation with other associations and with the Macedonian Ecologists Movement, sent an appeal to the citizens, the media, the civic associations and other organizations to support the following requests: The Government should immediately assess the costs and the benefits from the Smeltery's work, having in mind the most valuable thing - people's health. If the government thinks that the people's health is the most important thing, than we want the Smeltery to be dislocated. Sanation of the consequences from the several-year pollution (eg. free medical care for children and sick people from Veles, forestation of the environment - that is, realization of the announced Green Area "We, as citizens of Veles, Republic of Macedonia and other countries will give our best to help the sanation of the consequences, we will organize or get involved in the activities for improving the environmental health in Veles. Appreciating the latest efforts of the Macedonian Government, we request from it to decide upon Veles and the Smeltery question by 21 March, and on 22 April, the Planet Earth Day, we, the citizens of Macedonia, will either celebrate the day the pollution stopped, or organize protests in front of the Smeltery and stop its functioning" - says the appeal.   EA "Vila Zora" and MEM Protest March and welcoming the spring outside Veles   "Vila Zora" and MEM, in cooperation and with support from many other organizations, have organized a protest march on 21 March this year in Veles. Participants walked through the town, all the way to the Smeltery. The march was accompanied by various parodies whose goal was to present the condition in Veles. On 23 March, in cooperation with the Mayor of Veles, Mr. Ace Kocevski, the citizens organized the event of "leaving" Veles and welcome the spring in a healthier environment. Many citizens gathered at this event, which was organized by the Lake Mladost.   WO Veles and UMWO  "Invest in care, not poisoning"   On 8 March, the Union of Macedonian Women Organizations and the Women Organization - Veles, expressed their solidarity with the citizens from Veles and joined the world female movement with their own motto "Invest in care, not poisoning". With slogans like: "Veles - black hole on the Macedonian ecological map", "Ecological rights of the VEles citizens are fundamental human rights" and others, women have organized a meeting at the town square in Veles. As they emphasized, this meeting is a response and support to the Veles people and civic organizations' requests, who are facing heavy pollution of the environment and terrible consequences on people's health.   Macedonian Ecologists' Movement Petition for dislocating the Smeltery   Since 18 March 2003, the Macedonian Ecologists' Movement, in cooperation with NGOs from Veles, collects signatures for supporting the requests for dislocating the Smeltery outside Veles. As the support letter states, although there have been some announcements that dislocation will not occur, the organizers are hoping that at least the technology will be renewed which can help to sanate the consequences and assess the damage on people's and environmental health. So far, they have collected signatures from about 60 NGOs from Macedonia and 30 foreign organizations and countries (among which FOE, SEEENN, Holland, Great Britain, Serbia, Greece, etc).   Business sector Ignorant, threatening or offensive attitude   Unfortunately, the business sector in Veles has not realized cooperation with the citizens and NGO in the battle that should be mutual - the battle for healthy environment in this town. The Smeltery, as well as the other industrial capacities have an ignorant, and not rarely, and offensive and threatening attitude and call the citizens "hypochondriacs", threaten the citizens to dismiss them fro their job, and even threaten with physical assaults...   JLEC ERINA Legal assistance for Veles   The Journalist-Legal Enviro Center ERINA from Skopje, offers free legal assistance for the citizens and citizen organizations from Veles regarding question of the environmental pollution in this town. Legal representatives from ERINA are in touch with Veles municipality for solving the problem by using the legal mechanisms, and in regard to this, they are expecting the information from the government group that should offer a concept fro the "Veles case".   Parents Association for Healthy Offspring Care Hundred children contamination analysis   The Parents Association for Healthy Offspring Care from Veles has taken a few activities (petition to the Ombudsman, initiating actions in cooperation with the local self-government, etc). The latest activity is a request for preparing analyses at the Center for Biotic Medicine in Moscow, Russia of hair samples of a hundred children from Veles and its surrounding, which should confirm how much their organisms are contaminated with cadmium, lead, zinc, sulphurdioxide...The analyses will be offered to the municipality and the state and health authorities and decide on the further activities.   "GREEN POWER" ASSOCIATION Animating and raising the public awareness   The "Green Power" Association from Veles focuses its activity on animating the public and raising the public awareness, through "mildly radical" methods: writing graffiti on the walls or busses that take the Smeltery employees to wok, painting the billboards of this industrial complex. The members of this association are young people, high school and university students, who emphasize this problem in their own way, thus putting pressure on the public and the authorities.    Ljubomir Janev, Minister of Environment  We are seeking solution for the Smeltery The Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, Mr. Ljubomir Janev says that people's health is an absolute priority for the Ministry and the Government, and in the Veles case, an inter-department government commission has been established to offer concrete attitudes regarding the environmental pollution. They will try to find solution to keep the Smeltery as a production capacity that will not pollute the environment, says the Minister.   Ace Kocevski, Mayor of Veles Consensus for Veles   The Mayor of Veles, Mr. Ace Kocevski, got engaged in the Sisyphus battle for protecting the environment in this town, which culminated with the action for filing a lawsuit against the country. Mr. Kocevski emphasizes that he has a great support from the citizens and the NGO and that there is a consensus from all citizens and parties regarding the question of preventing the environmental pollution.    Toni Popovski, Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe from Budapest Let us use the possibilities for foreign help   The Director of the Regional Environmental Center for CEE from Budapest, Mr. Toni Popovski, former Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning in Macedonia, emphasizes that all the existing possibilities for getting foreign donation and credits for technical solutions in the function of environmental protection in the Smeltery and the other industrial capacities in Veles have to be used. Such possibilities have been offered by the UNDP, the Dutch Government, the Japanese Special Fund and other foreign donors, and there is room for finding other lines for this kind of help.   (statements have been used from the article "Power is in the people" from February 2003 in "Utrinski Vesnik")