TIRANA, Feb. 16 – The citizens of Verri village, in the Fier district, protested in front of the parliament on Thursday against the construction of an incinerator only 700m away from their houses – a total of 300, with about 1,000 habitants.
The incinerator will also be located in the middle of a wide farming surface.
They asked for the repeal of the decision from the government, which they accuse of not taking their say into consideration, leading to the building of a damaging industry in a prosperous area, and right at their backyards.
Local media reported the plant will be built 9 km away from the city of Fier, and only 700 m away from Verri village, bringing its habitants in Tirana to seek help from Fier’s MPs.
The Alliance against the Import of Waste joined the villagers’ protest, as it has been objecting several local and import waste processing governmental industrial projects for some years now.
Environmental activist Lavdosh Ferruni told local media the Fier incinerator is a contract that only serves the government, and that it needs to be repealed to avoid environmental pollution that will affect the water reserve of the Myzeqe area used for watering and the livestock producing milk and dairy products.
While the protest was taking place, Ministry of Energy Damian Gjiknuri was called in an interpelance on the issue inside the parliament.
Gjiknuri said the investment in this plant is in line with all legal requirements and that he’d accept investigation from any parliamentary group or science experts of the field.
Opposition representatives, however, alleged the construction is a corrupt and dangerous affair that will, according to them, harm the villagers’ health and damage their economic income, which is closely related to agriculture.
They added the economic benefit of this industry is considerably smaller than the harm it will do to people’s health and the pollution of the country’s natural resources.
In turn, during Thursday’s parliamentary session, all MPs agreed on the construction of the incinerators and were only divided on the procedure that should be followed, with Socialists arguing the current project is best, comparing it with the Elbasan plant, which according to Minister of Economy Arben Ahmetaj was a “blessing” for Elbasan’s citizens.
Sensitivity and protests concerning environmental issues have in the last years increased in Albania.
Recent reasons for environmentalists’ protests have been the government’s permission to build two hydro energy centrals (HEC) on the Osum canions – one of the country’s natural monuments – under a project supposedly repealed with the change of government in 2013.
In a similar context, last year activists had to protest the resurfacing of the integrated waste processing law which Prime Minister Edi Rama had himself objected when in opposition.
Activists raised doubts whether Albania would really process waste according to the way the law is written or presented in parliament, fearing the import would turn the country into a landfill.
Rama said on a Facebook post that in addition to being unaware of the legal irregularities in the Osum HEC-s’ construction contracts, he would not damage the country’s natural monuments, thus saying no HEC will be built.
However, despite Rama’s statements, the Albanian government only recently approved fast track negotiation procedures with a Turkish consortium that has offered to build a new Vlora airport, despite a Germany-based foundation slamming their project for being incompatible with the area’s ecosystem – another natural monument that should be protected.
Though the country is experiencing industrial growth, with cities growing in capacity and the need for energy and incineration plants following suit, independent experts say governmental officials are often swift in allowing construction of environmentally unfriendly industries that are not well studied, or are too close to protected or inhibited areas, putting citizens and nature at risk.
In addition to these controversies centering on the scientific, health-related and environmental fronts of the issue, they often also raise doubts on alleged corrupt affairs of waste management from neighboring countries.
