Mayor of Partesh: I expect peace; Resolving infrastructure issues is a priority

Mayor of Partesh Dragan Petkovic emphasized that he is certain municipalities with a Serbian population in Kosovo will continue to face many challenges in the period ahead, but that he hopes for peace, survival, and stability. Regarding the municipality he will lead over the next four years, Petkovic said the focus will be on resolving issues related to road infrastructure, the water supply network, electrification, as well as the maintenance and construction of public facilities.

In an interview with Kosovo Online, Petković said that the municipality of Partesh–Pasjane, which has 5,200 inhabitants, needs to address the problem of flooding caused by the overflow of the Binačka Morava River during the rainy season, which, according to him, is a major investment requiring financial resources from the central level.

As for cooperation with the authorities in Prishtina, Petković stressed that it is not at a satisfactory level.

Since many residents of this municipality are temporarily working abroad, Petković said he would work to create better living conditions so that they can return and remain in their homes. He also pointed to the need to build a retirement home, as many elderly people, after earning pensions abroad, wish to return to Partesh.

What is the ethnic composition of the municipality of Partesh, and how many inhabitants does it have?

The municipality of Partesh has a predominantly Serbian population—percentage-wise, it is 100 percent Serbian in the municipality of Partesh–Pasjane. It has 5,200 inhabitants; according to the latest census, 3,240 people were enumerated. The Municipal Assembly of Partesh consists of 15 councilors, 14 of whom are from the Serb List, while one councilor represents the Kosovo Alliance.

What are your expectations in the new term?

In the previous period—and I am certain this will continue in the coming period—there have been many challenges faced by municipalities with a Serbian majority, including the municipality of Partesh. Above all, I expect peace, security, and stability, and then we can address other issues, primarily infrastructural ones: resolving road infrastructure, the water supply network, electrification, as well as the maintenance and construction of public facilities such as schools, health centers, and clinics.

Which of these are your priorities, and what are the priorities of citizens?

The priority for citizens is certainly employment, but at the same time better infrastructure and a place suitable for living. Many of our people are temporarily working abroad; if we have good living conditions in our municipality, those people will return to live here. Many of them spend their retirement years or holidays here, in their homes. What may be necessary for our municipality is a retirement home where care could be provided for elderly people who are left alone, allowing them to remain here instead of going to central Serbia.

As for other issues, water supply is a key one—we have an unfinished water supply system in Donja Budriga, which we now expect to be completed. In the previous period, the problem was a lack of sufficient financial resources. Now we will have those resources and expect to resolve this issue as early as next year, after which we will address the problem in Pasjane as well. Other projects include improving road infrastructure, which is solid but always requires further work, and addressing what has proven to be a major issue in this period—flooding and regulation of the Binacka Morava riverbed. We hope to resolve that problem. It is a serious and major investment that the municipality cannot handle on its own, but we hope for assistance.

What is cooperation like with the central level? This is not your first term, as you have led the municipality before—was there cooperation with the authorities in Prishtina?

I must say that cooperation is at a much lower level than in the previous period. Over the past year, we had one project involving regulation of the riverbed through Donja Budriga; we started that project and hope to resolve it in the coming year. Another project involved improving road infrastructure in our municipality. As for the rest, our requests and needs have not been sufficiently met. We are a small municipality and do not have enough of our own resources, so assistance from the central level is essential, and so far it has not been at a satisfactory level. We hope that in the future this assistance and support will be much better.