The citizens of Prilep sent messages to the decision-makers in the city about the importance of fulfilling their promises made during the election campaign and their governance in the previous year. Through the innovative initiative “Inform Yourself – Act for Change!” implemented by the association “Multimedia Press,” they mainly referred to the construction and commissioning of the kindergarten in the Tochila settlement in Prilep.
At the workshop held on December 20, 2022, 18 citizens participated in the City Library “Borka Taleski” in Prilep. They were informed, debated, asked, and expressed their views on solving the problem with this critical facility for the citizens. The participants talked in general about the importance of childcare in kindergarten and about solving the problem of the shortage of accommodation capacity for the preschool childcare. Eleonora Kostovska Jovanoska, an expert on early childhood development, addressed some of these questions. Multimedia Press wants to mobilize the community in the municipality and strengthen civic awareness to initiate political accountability and transparency of local authorities on this issue. The completion of the kindergarten in the Tochila settlement in Prilep was a pre-election promise of the current local government. The Development Program and the Budget for 2022 have also envisaged it. “A kindergarten is being built in Prilep after 40 years, and over 200 children are on the waiting list every year for foster care in the kindergarten “Our Future.” The completion of the kindergarten was initially projected at 110 million denars, and now it has reached a price of 133 million denars and is still not operational, “said Elizabeta Filiposka from the Multimedia Press Association.
The citizens asked when the kindergarten in the Tochila settlement, Prilep, would be operational.
“We do not want the new kindergarten in the Tochila settlement to be another “monument” as other buildings in the city that are not operational. We are looking for the promise to be realized and the children to receive care,” Liljana Gjorgjioska said. “Decision makers in the local community and political entities that prefer to come to power shall offer real projects that they can implement with the Budget of the Municipality they have at their disposal,” Goce Blazeski said.
At the workshop “Mobilizing the community to initiate the completion of kindergarten in the “Tochila” settlement in Prilep, guidelines were drafted to develop an online petition that will influence the local government to implement this election promise. Irena Sterjoska Lokvenec, Deputy Mayor, Councilor, and Chairman of the Committee on Financing, Budget, and Local Economic Development at the Council of the Municipality of Prilep answered the attendees’ questions.
