Thursday morning found the residents of Kurdari e Mati in front of the Parliament. Unlike other times, the deputies entered the Parliament under megaphone calls for justice and the cancellation of permits for the construction of the 'Doma' hydroelectric power plant in Kurdari.
"I call on everyone, all institutions, parliament, the prime minister, the mayor and all those who have a role to play to help us in this regard. We are not here for politics, we have come here for our own problems, please help us a lot", said Enver Dara, a resident of the area, through a megaphone.
Through banners with messages, they expressed their revolt and dissatisfaction with the representatives of the area.
"We demand justice, don't force us to self-judge", "Thank you Belinda for deceiving us", "We live off agriculture and livestock, you are killing us alive" were some of the messages conveyed through the banners that residents held in their hands.
According to residents, the consequences of the hydroelectric power plant are on agriculture and livestock, destroying their livelihoods in this area.
"The village lives with this water, the livestock. After the water is taken and put into the pipeline, where will I take my sheep or cows, take them by car to the Mati River? This is the greatest disgrace that is being done to the village of Kurdari", said one of the protesting residents.
They confessed that the water intended to be piped into the pipes is a stream and as such only meets their needs. Recently, the area has also suffered from drought, leaving it without water.
"The springs that were cut from the mountains, now they want to take our water and put it in pipes. Better take the weapons, eat the police and let them come and kill us and we will all be eagles, better let them exterminate us", said one of the residents present.
Rexhep Kuleni said that in all the meetings and hearings that have been held, the majority has decided against the construction of hydroelectric power plants.
"Three real hearings were held with representatives of the municipality, the elders, the local unit. The first hearing was held in 2018, 19 people participated. The second hearing was held in 2020, where 631 residents signed against. In 2022, another hearing was held where 705 residents signed against," Rexhep Kuleni expressed.
Abdulla Abdullaj said that they have been clashing with the firm for six months, preventing them from starting work. He asked the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Parliament and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy to stop the hydropower plants and make investments that serve the residents in agriculture and agrotourism.
"We are the owners of that river, it is not the "Doma". The state comes and catches us for nothing, the police. We are in our own home, where will we go?", he said.
Dorina Prethi, the residents' lawyer, stated that the institutions that granted the permits and signed the contract for the pipelines and power lines are in violation.
"The law provides that for every decision of this nature, when common property is affected, when national property is affected, public property, the residents must be heard, and in fact the Klos municipality, the Municipal Council, has not organized a hearing and consultation with the public, completely in violation of the law.", stated lawyer Prethi.
Being also a representative of the "Albania Becomes" party, Dorina Prethi also brought the support of this political force to residents and such causes.
"Albania Behet is not only in defense of this cause, but of every cause that supports public wealth, national wealth. The hydroelectric power plant is not for the benefit of a person or a company, we must use public wealth for the public, use it for ourselves, for our people, for our citizens", she continued further in her speech.
On September 26, the residents had their first court hearing at the Tirana Administrative Court. So far, the lawsuit has not been secured.
"We have requested the lawsuit to be secured, which means the suspension of the works until a decision is made, but the court did not find it reasonable that the start of works for the hydroelectric power plant would cause irreversible damage. According to the court, if the concrete pouring starts there is no risk of the situation returning to the previous situation, there is no risk to the water.", said lawyer Prethi.
The next session is expected to take place on October 16.
Residents' resistance over the years
The five villages of the Suç administrative unit: Suç, Kurdari, Kurqelaj, Skënderaj and Kujtim, have been the target of energy works since 2006. At that time, the project to build a hydroelectric power plant on the Lusa River did not materialize.
In 2017-2018, two different companies, "Indrolusa" and "Global Enterprise Group", applied to build hydroelectric power plants in this area.
In 2017, the government granted permission to the company "Idrolusa" for the construction of the "Lusa 1 and Lusa 2" HPPs.
Residents tried to convince institutions that they were against these projects, so in 2020 they turned to the Prime Minister's Office. The official response stated that the government was aware of the problem raised by the residents and that it "supports their interests first and foremost."
But, after the legal deadlines expired and these works were not completed in the village, the company "Idrolusa" returned to the village of Skënderaj in 2022 for a new consultation. They refused to hold the meeting, showing opposition.
The National Environmental Agency told Citizens.al at the time that the community had no concerns about the construction of this hydropower plant.
"The project was presented at the meeting, and the suggestions of the participants were heard, which will be taken into account by the investors during the period of use.", the KTA told Citizens.al.
In parallel, in 2018, the company "Global Enterprise Group" wanted to build the "Doma" hydroelectric power plant on the same river. Therefore, it held a public hearing, in which 19 residents participated.
Documents from the Ministry of Environment and the National Environmental Agency state that they expressed their agreement to the development of the hydropower plant. However, 12 of them have stated in writing that their signature of participation was manipulated as a declaration of agreement.
"We declare that we participated as listeners for the 'Doma' project, but we did not express agreement as it conflicts with vital interests," they said in the statement.
Then, another attempt to hold a community hearing on the development of hydro projects was repeated in 2020, but it was massively rejected by residents and 631 signatures were collected against.
Five years later, the company has managed to get the permit through a still-unexplained public consultation process, for which residents say they were not consulted. Residents have once again organized protests, not allowing any heavy equipment to enter the field. And recently, they have even started legal proceedings.
Residents also addressed international institutions, such as the American Embassy and the European Delegation to Albania. In September, they only received a response from the European Delegation, which stated that they have followed the residents' concerns and prioritize citizens' rights, property rights, and respect for environmental protection.
"The EU Delegation to Albania does not have a legal mandate to intervene in individual cases, but will follow this case in the framework of the dialogue that is taking place with the Albanian government institutions during the accession negotiation process", it was stated in the communication of the EU Delegation to Albania.
Also Read:
- Courage inspires resistance against hydropower plants in Mat
- Residents of Kurdaria begin trial against the “Doma” hydroelectric power 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).
