Population census and the solution to the problem of stray dogs are among the two issues that will be discussed today in the meeting held between the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, the Minister of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi and several mayors.

Prime Minister Kurti said that in this meeting they will discuss two important and urgent issues according to him, for which he mentioned the population census which will start at the beginning of April.

For this, Kurti said that policy-making based on data is important for both the central and the local level, for which he called on the municipalities for the best possible cooperation with the Kosovo Agency of Statistics for the implementation of the Population Census.

In addition, as an urgent issue to discuss, Kurti assessed the ongoing problem with stray dogs, while emphasizing that this situation is worrying for all municipalities.

Kurti said that the strategy for solving this concern included several inter-institutional steps, such as the construction of shelters and the development of local dog management services.

He said that it has been proposed to build four shelters for stray dogs in the municipalities of Prishtina, Prizren, Peja, Gjilan and Kamenica.

In this regard, Kurti called on mayors of the municipalities for cooperation with the working group for the achievement of the intended objectives, from which, according to him, everyone is the beneficiary.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi, said that with a more efficient cooperation and concrete projects with the amount of the allocated budget, we can directly influence, according to him, the improvement of citizens' lives.

Krasniqi called on the municipalities to report to the system for the performance of 2023, because it is a legal obligation and otherwise punitive measures will be taken against the municipalities that do not report.

Likewise, Krasniqi called on the municipalities to apply for the program for the financing of infrastructure projects, which is open until February 28.

After the speech of Kurti and Krasniqi, the meeting with the mayors of the municipalities continued closed and without the presence of the media. Also present at the meeting were the Minister of Finance, Labor and Transfers, Hekuran Murati and the Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Arbërie Nagavci. Meanwhile, it is expected that there will be statements for the media after the discussions. /Z. Zeneli/