Although the works have been suspended due to illegality, the machines of the "Sang 1" company have returned in recent days to Thirre of Mirdita to continue the works for the construction of the hydropower plant in this area.
They were pointed out by the residents, who have been opposing the works for five years through protests and the initiation of court proceedings.
"From this matter we will not move until God takes our souls. We are within our rights, so I am once again asking our state, the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior, economic crime, not to fool us, but to come and bring us a decision. Either we are illegal, or they take measures to remove from us as a people this illegality that we trust in the state", - said Ndue Prenga, a resident of the area.
In September 2023, the Lezhë executive office suspended the works on the hydropower plant. After seeing the machines on the ground, the residents turned to this office again, which stated that the suspension of works by it is still in force.
"At the Lezhë Enforcement Office, no court decision has been registered so far that decided to cancel our enforcement actions against the Company "Sang 1" shpk. Regarding the decision of the Supreme Court dated 16.11.2023, which has decided "to annul the decision no. 152 dated 15.06.2023 of the Administrative Court of Appeal of Tirana and to return it for reconsideration to the same court with the same panel, you we inform you that we still do not have a decision of this court which gives us legal competence to cancel the enforcement actions", - Lezha Enforcement Office said in its response
According to Pashk Bajraktari, a resident of the area, the works are being carried out illegally.
"We have come to the place of the event, which is called the stream of Qarri, where illegal work is being done. We, the residents of the three villages, have a decision of the executive office that the firm "Sang sh.pk" works illegally. Therefore, we ask the state institutions to take measures for this illegality", - said Bajraktari.
Residents have found that in addition to starting the works, they have also affected the drinking water pipes.
"They have not only continued the illegal works, but have also destroyed the village's water supply. They broke the water lines that have been there since the 1st year, the water pipes, they broke the foundations of the mills and today you can see here a pipeline that supplied the village below with drinking water from above and they broke it. So this company continues the works in an illegal manner, in opposition to the will of the population", said Besnik Paci.
Residents have turned to local and central institutions to react and take measures for the situation.
"We have notified the State Police, the Lezhë district police directorate, the economic crime sector. We have notified the Rrëshen police station in writing. We have notified in writing, Mirdita municipality, IMT Mirdita, Fan administrative unit of Mirdita. All these were present on the day when the executive office blocked the works", -said Besnik Paci.
Residents' resistance over the years
Residents of the villages of Thirrë, Sang and Hebë, located near the "Nation Road", as part of the Fan administrative unit in the Mirdita municipality, protested in April 2021 against the construction of two hydropower plants and a water factory.
The company that was building the HPP in Thirre of Mirdita, "Sang 1" LLC received the license with a decision of June 26, 2019 for the electricity trading activity for a 5-year term.
Residents were not invited to public hearings at the time by the company. Among other things, they denounced the fact that the company had forged their signatures.
In February 2023, the administrative court of the first instance in Tirana considered invalid the decision for the construction of the hydropower plant in the village of Thirrë in Mirdita.
Although a case in the trial process, the works continued and consequently the use of the water resources of the area.
The residents turned to the administrative court for the cancellation of the permit for the use of water resources, given by the Mat Water Basin Council. However, during the judicial process, the permits for the use of water resources expired and the court reasoned that it could not annul an act that is no longer valid.
In March 2022, they addressed a request to the prefect of Lezhë district, the Mat Water Basin Council, the municipality of Mirdita and the administrative unit Fan, where they requested the equipment of the administrative unit Fan with permission to use the water source for drinking water, for irrigation and for livestock.
According to the residents, this request was not taken into account, since the institutions renewed the water usage permit to the company "Sang 1 sh.pk", while the case was under trial.
In September 2023, the enforcement office in Lezhë implemented the decision of the administrative court of appeal dated June 15, 2023 for the suspension of works for the HPP and the water treatment plant.
In February 2024, the company resumes work on the grounds that there is a Supreme Court decision to return for reconsideration the decision of the appeals court that suspended the work. But this decision, like other legal documents, have not been made available to the municipality of Mirdita, the residents and the enforcement office of Lezhë.
In March 2024, residents they set up a tent in the form of a protest to oppose the continuation of the works for this hydropower plant.
Erisa Kryeziu has completed higher studies in Journalism and Communication and Master of Science in Public Relations at the University of Tirana. She has been a journalist and project manager at Citizens.al for five years, where she reports on social issues and human rights, especially on issues of rights at work, in education, gender equality, marginalized groups, people with disabilities such as and for environmental issues. At the same time, she works as a project coordinator with a focus on youth and media education. User of new reporting techniques such as "Mobile Journalism" and citizen engagement tools in reporting (ECR-Engage Citizens Journalism).
