OSCE Mission, municipality of Prishtine/Pristina launch garbage collection campaign

PRISHTINE/PRISTINA, 30 September 2009 - The OSCE Mission in Kosovo and the Municipality of Prishtine/Pristina launched a public awareness campaign today that encourages residents to keep the city clean and to pay for garbage collection services.

The three-week campaign includes TV spots and billboard advertisements.

The city has experienced problems with garbage collection over the past years due to insufficient capacity and a widespread reluctance to pay for garbage collection.

The OSCE Mission supports the campaign to assist the municipality with its obligation to inform the public and provide common services. The campaign will be followed by another project on waste management supported by the OSCE that involves the development of a sustainable waste management strategy for the city. A donor conference will be organized at the end of the year to raise money to implement such as strategy.

"This project is an important step toward protecting the environment, a matter that is crucial in the city and worldwide," said Bo-Ewert Linne, Head of OSCE Regional Centre in Prishtine/Pristina.

Mayor Isa Mustafa.added: "Through this campaign, we want to raise everyone's awareness, including our own, about how we can have a cleaner environment and establish a partnership with citizens and garbage collection companies to create a clean city."