More than a billion people worldwide have no access to drinking water. Millions of people annually die of drinking polluted water. Only half a percent of the entire water on the planet is potable water, which means that it is a very limited resource. This day reminds us how we should treat water”, the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov said today, at the observance of the World Water Day, March 22nd, at the canyon Matka.

”Waters have become global landfills. We have witnessed this on our way here, watching what the divers retrieved from the waters in this restricted area only”, President Ivanov said.

He expressed gratitude to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Norway to Macedonia for the support to the campaign of the speleo-diving club “Vrelo” for cleaning the lake in the canyon Matka. The President also expressed hope that this initiative will become a tradition and awaken awareness of others to change their attitude towards water.

”If we do not create responsible individuals, such pollution will continue and the waters will be more polluted. Through water, our food will be unhealthy too and many diseases will occur. Our life will become complicated due to our negligence for water and nature”, President Ivanov said.

He emphasized that he supports all the initiatives that contribute in building a different attitude and awareness of what we would leave for our descendants.

”We support this action and encourage all young people and all citizens of the Republic of Macedonia to take care of the water because thus we take care of ourselves”, the President added.

The Norwegian Ambassador Kjetil Paulsen said he supported the campaign "Vrelo" because it is an important project which is of great importance for Skopje and all its inhabitants, for the health and waterlife in general.

"Water is the most precious thing we have. There is no life without clean water and therefore water protection is the most important activity of mankind", Ambassador Paulsen said.

Kire Angeleski, President of the speleo-diving club "Vrelo" informed that today the action to clean the lake in the canyon Matka has begun and will last from March to June. The action will include 20 professional divers from Skopje, Ohrid and Bitola from the biggest diving clubs in the country. About 200 tons of solid waste from the lake are to be collected, mostly metal, plastic and tires. Divers will use special equipment, typical for such actions, including separate bins for removal of heavy waste balloons and bags.

The initiative to mark the World Water Day dates back in 1992 by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro. After this, the UN General Assembly in 1993 declared March 22nd as the first World Water Day. To highlight the importance of water, the period 2005-2015 has been declared by the UN as decade of waters under the slogan "Water for Life".