Mayor of Istog Ilir Ferati said that since 9:00 am, they have been on the ground assessing the damage caused to agricultural crops by yesterday’s hailstorm.

During a joint visit with Acting Minister of Agriculture Armend Muja, he said that within seven calendar days they would complete the damage assessment report, which would be presented to the Municipal Assembly and submitted to the Ministry and the Emergency Management Agency.

However, he expressed doubts, saying that Minister Muja had not made a concrete commitment regarding compensation for farmers.

“I believe that within seven calendar days, we will complete the assessment report, which will be presented to the Assembly and immediately submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Emergency Management Agency. I am pleased that the minister found the time to come, but what does not please me is that we have not managed to get a concrete commitment, neither in response to the journalists’ questions nor to my own, so that these farmers and agricultural producers, whose only source of income is agriculture, can know whether they will be compensated for a percentage of the damage, whether 5% or 10%, regardless of the financial capacities. I know that the Government of Kosovo has a budget line through the Ministry of Finance for responding to natural disasters,” KosovaPress reports.

Ferati further said that farmers in Istog have not been compensated for damages suffered in previous years either. He therefore pledged to continuously call on the government to compensate farmers so that they have an incentive to continue their work.

The Mayor of Istog visited all the farmers in the village of Kovragë, which was the hardest hit by yesterday’s natural disaster in the municipality.

Meanwhile, today, Acting Minister of Agriculture Armend Muja promised meritocracy during a conversation with a farmer from Istog.