The environmental permit for building a hydro-power plant (HPP) near the Osum River canyons is invalid because it has expired.
This permit is taken after an assessment of the environmental impact, otherwise known as the environmental permit.
It is clear that the permit has been approved by the National Agency of Environment on March 26th, 2015.
But article 8.2 of the document says: “If the activity doesn’t start within two years, the decision for starting this activity is nullified”.
This means that the permit was valid until March 26th, 2017. Since the construction has not started until this date, the permit is automatically nullified.
The law does not allow the operator to start building the hydropower plant without another permit, which is issued by the National Agency of Environment, an institution depending on the Ministry of Environment. If the agency doesn’t renew the permit, the concessionary contract will then be considered nullified.
The Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Environment have been involved in a “hot potato” game on this matter.
On January 8th, the Minister of Environment Blendi Klosi asked the Minister of Energy to cancel the agreement.
This Wednesday, the Ministry of Energy declared that they are ready to cancel the agreement if the Ministry of Environment will not renew the permit.
However, documents show that the government has all the possibilities to stop the destruction of the Osum canyon. It remains to be seen if there is enough will to do it.
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