Erzen River exploitation

Dozens of gravel loaded trucks drive each day in and out this area. Although the Albanian Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, and the Environment Minister, Fatmir Mediu, decided in 2006 that the Erzen River should not be exploited, since the damages caused by the gravel removal have changed its course, the works are continuing for months and the residents themselves have confirmed this fact.

They don’t want to appear publicly when declaring that the works are still on at the Erzen River, because they feel threatened. But some of them say that the houses near the riverbank are in danger, because the excavations have caused landslides.

Near the house of a 65-year-old there are two dams that have been destroyed by the river, although built only lately. The excavations in the riverbed are changing its course.

The river exploitation is only allowed seasonaly, and summer is exactly the season when the exploitation is forbidden. After the destruction of the Peshkatari Bridge some years ago, the River was excluded from the list of exploitable rivers. Unofficial sources confirm that this environmental massacre is being tolerated by the government due to the great priority of the construction of the New Tirana Ring Road.

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