According to Kocani’s Acting Mayor, Venko Krstevski, unlawful hospitality facilities within the Trade Centre in the City have received electricity connection permissions, while kitchens where there are counters next to deep fryers have HACCP standards.
As he pointed out on Wednesday, though over three months have passed since the nightclub tragedy, there are still hospitality venue owners that usurp public space and operate unlawfully.
“As a result, I’ve filed a criminal charge against them before the Kocani Prosecutor’s Office”, Krstevski stated, asking why the State Market Inspectorate, Food and Veterinary Agency, and other institutions had continued to tolerate such operations.
According to him, owners of the hospitality venues care more about profits than about the safety and health of citizens. The Inspectorate, however, stated that it didn’t have the competence to remove illegal structures, adding that it issued orders over detected irregularities and notified local authorities.
The Agency, on its part, stated that its work was related to registration of facilities and food operations.
“We don’t have competences over such matters”, it stressed.
The owners of the hospitality venues themselves stated that Krstevski’s approach was selective, underlining that demolition would benefit neither them nor the Municipality.
Also, they demanded a new meeting with local authorities to discuss and clarify which standards and requirements had to be respected.
“The current section and nightclub tragedy has had a serious impact on our operations and existence of the venues”, they added.