Bus drivers closed contacts in Skopje

Private bus drivers operating city buses affiliated with the companies Sloboda Prevoz and Makekspres closed the right lanes of the two-lane Ilindenska boulevard running from the government building to the Skopje Municipality building with their buses.

Representatives of the two companies reported that they went on strike demanding that the Public Transport Company of the Municipality of Skopje pay their debt.

Within the framework of the strike, in which approximately 200 buses and nearly 300 drivers participated, the buses will keep the right lane of the aforementioned boulevard closed until late at night.

Kemal Muric, representative of the private bus companies, said in a statement that today’s work stoppage is a kind of warning and that the debt from the past period has not been paid to them.

Muric announced that if they fail to reach an agreement with the Skopje Municipality, they will hold a major strike on December 5, closing two different intersections in the capital and the entire Ilindenska boulevard to traffic.

Sloboda Prevoz director Lenin Jovanovski also called on the central government to mediate and assist in the dispute with the Skopje municipality at a press conference they held yesterday.

The Municipality of Skopje reported that its contract with Sloboda Prevoz was terminated for breach of obligations, and that the Municipal Public Transport Company had sufficient capacity to meet the needs of Skopje residents. (AA)