Macedonia Press Review ' July 19, 2010

DNEVNIK

Under the headline “The Food Is Eating Us” the daily reveals data from the Food Health Inspectorate that show large quantities of unsafe food have been stopped from hitting the shelves. Wheat containing high levels of lead, flour with ash, mineral water that contains heavy metals, and salt with less than the recommended amount of iodine are some of the examples listed by the newspaper.

UTRINSKI VESNIK

The ruling party VMRO DPMNE is in a state of paranoia, fearing a backlash because of its undelivered promises, the daily says. The newspaper writes that the party is deliberately launching all sorts of affairs just to shift the public's focus.

The government is unwilling to accept criticism for its work and the media that do criticise the ruling party are being publicly slammed. Such was the case with A1 TV and Utrinski Vesnik last month at the celebration of 20th anniversary of VMRO DPMNE, when the two media outlets were slammed for criticising the government's work.

VREME

The daily reports the story of the family of farmer Dusko Ilievski, who along with his brother Cane and father Dusko have been held in police custody under suspicion of growing marijuana in their field.

The daily's investigation reveals that the plant grows wild all across Ilievski’s town of Bitola. It is found alongside roads, in uncultivated fields, in factory sites and even in the garden of a kindergarten.

Ilievski’s family claims that he has been arrested in retaliation for his activities and protests against the government. He is the leader of milk producers in the Bitola region who have been left with huge debts after the dairy factory Swedmilk went bankrupt last year. The factory was originally promoted by the ruling VMRO DPMNE party as a saving grace for the milk producers but it is now the cause of financial troubles in many families who decided to take expensive loans to boost their milk production.