Ohrid, 6 February 2023 (MIA) — The Municipality of Ohrid and the government have excellent cooperation regarding implementing UNESCO recommendations to preserve Ohrid’s status of a Natural and Cultural Heritage site, according to Mayor Kiril Pecakov, even though some of the recommendations would cost as much as the municipal budget for a year and a half so implementation was gradual, he said.

With the help of the central government, Mayor Pecakov told MIA, a regional landfill would be built in Novaci to replace the Bukovo landfill, which was one UNESCO recommendation.

Asked about the iillegal constructions on the lakeshore and in the Galichica national park, Pecakov said first a list of illegal constructions needed to be completed and then a general urban plan adopted so some of those objects could be moved somewhere else.

“The general urban plan is obviously Ohrid’s biggest problem,” Pecakov told MIA. “The final number of illegal constructions we’ll get in Ohrid is not of buildings, but mostly family houses and cottages, sometimes far from the city center. That’s why it’s important to see what it is that we can fit in.”

He said the local government was also working to improve the beaches and to offer entertainment for tourists even outside the peak tourist season. One such event he announced is a Festival on Water to be held in the second half of August. 

In addition to the annual Ohrid swimming marathon, the Festival on Water would offer an aquathlon, kayak race, water polo, regattas with sailboats and kayaks but also parties, the Ohrid mayor said.

Pecakov also spoke about key infrastructure projects he promised before he was elected mayor and he announced that two new schools would be built. mr/