A year after the tragic events in the Kumanovo neighborhood known as Diva Naselba (May 9, 2015), life has gone back to normal, but with some slight changes, Telegraf.mk reads.
Streets are bustling with people and local businesses, and nothing seems to remind the residents of what took place on May 9-10 last year when literally everyone was hiding inside their homes while listening to gunshots fired by Macedonian special forces and a terrorist group, coming from all sides, launched early in the morning.
Then, the entire town was 'drowned' in fear and uncertainty and many recollected the 2001 military conflict in Macedonia.
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Nowadays, nobody wants to talk about what had happened. A Telegraf.mk team paid a visit to Diva Naselba in a bid to talk to the local residents and see if the fatal events have left some traces in the local people's everyday life.
Some of them say a difference was never made between a Macedonian and an Albanian resident there. But many are perplexed by the fact that a terrorist group, carrying a full load of weapons, has managed to infiltrate inside the residential neighborhood, without anyone noticing. The group must have had a logisitc support from the local residents who wish to throw the cohabitation in Kumanovo out of balance.
What can be first noticed when a person is entering Diva Naselba, is that the entire area resembles a construction site. Bricks, sand, construction mixers can be seen almost everywhere. Almost all the houses that were damaged during the exchange of fire between the Macedonian special police unites and the terrorist groups are undergoing renovation.
There are construction workers in front of every house where the fearsome clashes took place. The old houses were torn down and also the high fences that used to separate them from the street.
Where there were once dilapidated houses now there are 'palaces' several stories high. An average eye could tell the houses are maid in line with an urbanistic plan and with a modern style, unlike before when several irregular homes shared a common yard space and when a person could visit the neighbor without walking out into the street. This kind of housing deployment was precisely used by the terrorists during the fights, as they were able to easily shift locations.
Immediately after the violent clashes last year a damage assessment was carried out by the authorities on each of the houses and the amount of money the owners were entitled to receive was determined. The bulk of the buildings were partially damaged and were easy to repair. In certain locations, only the side walls were hit by bullets and only some of them were completely demolished. However, the owners have decided to rebuilt them from the start, and they often complain about the sum of the indemnification, which according to them is not sufficient.
"We've received EUR 12,000 only, which is very little. We've decided to rebuild the house from the ground because it wasn't livable. The money weren't enough and our son who lives in Switzerland helped us a great deal," says Fatmir, who was closely monitoring the construction works because he wants to have his house completed before his son comes back for a vacation this year.
Only one house owner told the reporters' team that he did not get one single denar from the state, although his home has visible enormous holes. When the journalists asked him why he did not receive any indemnification, he said he was told he did not meet the terms, adding he hoped that daily politics did not interfere in his case, and that one day, he will be able to repair his home and return his family there that is now staying with relatives.