Polyparty-ism - Search for Common Ground

ing four quilt maker shops (there were
over thirty of them in the past). This is
how he explains the downhill of the
bazaar:
- The bazaar was falling down in
continuity. In the past, the bazaar
belonged to craftsmen, whereas now it
belongs to traders. Generations have
changed. The bazaar is slowly dying
along with the old craftsmen, because
there are very few of them that desire to
inherit the old craftsmen skills. The
crafts are dying. These activities are in
deficiency and, on the other hand, there
are too many shops with other activities.
The most distressing of all is the fact that
the value of the labor is rapidly decreasing,
which in the past was valued a lot.
On the other hand, the shift towards trading
does not have many effects, because,
as it was explained by Kemal Usein -
Bekce, the Chairman of the Association
of craftsmen and other independent businessmen
of Skopje, too many shopping
malls were built in the city and there are
also shops almost in every building, so
that one does not need to buy things only
in the Old Bazaar.
- The profit is smaller almost in
every single activity, which is reflected
in the low rents for the shops. Now,
these are even few times smaller than
before. If in the past one used to pay
2000 DM (1000 euro) for a shop, now
he can barely pay 500 DM (250 euro) -
confirmed the silversmith Irfan Bushi.
BAZAAR WITHOUT A
BAZAAR ATMOSPHERE
"Even the Bit Pazar became a real
burden for the bazaar. The traditional
female market has expanded so much,
that it represents a miniature bazaar in
itself", says Argetim Nagavci, adding:
The disloyal competition from the Bit
Pazar counters has decreased the product
value to such levels that even Da
Vinci's Mona Lisa would be offered
for sale for very little money.
In such a situation, everybody concludes
that the typical atmosphere of
the Bazaar was lost and with it, all the
material effects.
- Many factors, be they objective
or subjective, are determinants for the
Bazaar.
Some things also have to do with
the culture of behavior - said Dzeladin
Are there any prejudices
about the Old Bazaar?
Hasani and Argetim Nagavci. The sitting
of the shop keepers in front of
their shops, loud speaking, harassing
the passing women, the deficiency of
saleswomen, the lack of hygiene maintenance…
represent some of the factors
which depend on the residents of
the bazaar. Maybe some customers,
especially female ones, were kept
away from the bazaar because of the
above reasons. The night bazaar
atmosphere is something which is
missing in the Old Town, as this area
of the city of Skopje is referred to as.
- In the evening, here it is like
being in a grave - says with a dose of
despise Dzeladin
Hasani, who believes that this situation
is a result of the wrong approach by
the key city people. Each person coming
to a key city position would initiate
something, just for the sake of saying
"I am afraid to go to the other side",
says a Macedonian friend of mine.
"The bazaar has lost its glitter,
because it is located on the left bank of
Vardar, and the state is deliberately
destroying it by doing nothing about",
this is what a considerable number of
Albanians think Even one of my interlocutors
was trying to convince me that
the reconstruction of the Stone Bridge
was deliberately postponed in order to
stop the massive movement of people
from the right to the left side of Vardar.
Are these prejudices or reality?
It is very difficult to answer these
questions through few contacts and discussions,
but it is also difficult even if
there were relevant facts available. In
order to answer these questions, the
"List" agency in co-operation with
Klime Babunski, conducted a survey last
year.
To one of the questions put forward
to the craftsmen, three quarters (75%) of
the surveyed individuals gave a negative
response about the divisions of customers
along ethnic lines. In fact, the following
was the question: do the majority
of customers have the same ethnic background
as the shop keepers? The answer
was that there were no such divisions.
84% of the surveyed shop keepers coming
from different ethnic background
believe that they were safe. But, although
the majority (nine out of ten surveyed)
responded by saying that during the past
three years the safety was not jeopardized,
two thirds among them do not
oppose the establishment of the security
services, especially for the late evening
hours, whereas about 22 % of them
believe that this is the job for the police.
During the survey with the citizens
of Skopje, some 44% rarely or, more precisely,
once in several months visit the
bazaar, 29 % at least once a week do this,
while 27% at least once a month go
there. In relation to the gender, the bazaar
remains more attractive for men (38%),
in comparison to women (19%).
Regarding the ethnic background,
the difference is noticeable. Up to 85%
of the surveyed Albanians visit the
bazaar at least once a week, whereas only
52% of the surveyed Macedonians do
the same.
Based on the survey results, the most
visited time is the period between 12.00
and 15.00 (29%), while the least visited
hours are between 19.00 and 24.00
(2.5%). Regarding the visits in late
evening hours, similar answers were
given both by Macedonians (2%) and
Albanians (6%). The following was said
in one of the survey explanations: it is
indicative that those living closer (under
two kilometers from the bazaar)
responded by saying that they did not
feel safe, compared to those living further
away (over 8 kilometers). Based on
the ethnic background, after 20.00 the
Albanians (89%) and Turks (83%) felt
safer, whereas the Macedonians felt less
safer (40%).
that he cares about this area, but the situation
does not change at all, says
Hasani, who highlights the fact that the
dark comes very quickly in the evening,
since there is a lack of available city
lighting, which results in reduced movement
of people. Well, how could there
be movement, when the youth was virtually
thrown out of the bazaar. In the
past, there were coffee shops where
young people used to assemble, but as
business was getting lesser, they started
shutting down and now the Bazaar is
deserted during the night, without any
atmosphere. It seems as if somebody
wanted to create an impression that this
part of the city was unsafe, which certainly
is not true. This part of the city is
just like any other part. He is not viewing
with any empathy the two centers
for rehabilitation of drug dependents,
which are located here. Why on earth?
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What is happening to us?, May 2002