Fiks Fare investigative program tonight reported the pollution of several neighborhoods in the Albanian coastal city of Durrës, where despite the reported investments of tens of millions of euros, the government has still not solved the problem of urban waste pollution.
In 2021, the Municipality of Durres opened a tender worth 87 million ALL for the design of the study for the sewage network in the area of Porto Romano and the Ish-Keneta. The procedure took place at the end of 2021 and the winning firms had a deadline of 12 months, for the work to be completed at the end of 2022.
But 1 and a half years after the end of the term, the work is not done, the new network does not work as the Municipality of Durrës says that there were problems with the expropriations.
Residents of the Spitalle and Ish Këneta area complain about the presence of sewage waters on the entire surface. According to them, life has become difficult and all these waters end up in the sea, and in the old sewage system in Porto Romano, which is also choked with garbage and sewage.
Some have filed lawsuits in court against the Municipality of Durrës, meanwhile they have also complained to the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination. The latter issued a decision that these residents are discriminated against because of their place of residence. On the other hand Durrës Water and Sewerage claims that only part of the wastewater goes to the Water Treatment Plant in Shënavlash, and that other investments are needed to rehabilitate the area.
Residents complain about the presence of sewage in all these neighborhoods, where almost 1/3 of the residents in Durrës live. The 2021 project only opened some ditches and cleared some existing canals, but not the pipelines.
“These canals have polluted water. It has become impossible to live in this area, a source of infections. We cannot open the windows. The waters stand still and are all black. The water does not go to the Plant in Shënavlash, but is poured into the Adriatic Sea instead,” says Frrok Frroku, a resident of “Gjelbërimi” neighborhood.
Other residents claim that when it rains, sewage comes to the surface. “We’ve been doing it for 20 years and no improvement,” says Prenga, another resident. An old man says that his children have gona away and do not come to meet them. “Even when we die, they won’t come to us, because of the heavy smell around here,” claims another.
Fiks Fare also went to the Municipality of Durrës, where the Director of Projects, Lorenc Facja, claims that the work should be completed at the end of 2022, but there have been problems with expropriations.
He says that the work will anyway only rehabilitate the canals and not sewage. Facja promises that it will be put into operation very soon, but it will only reduce the amount of water in the canals which is more to prevent floods.
According to him, for the problem of sewage, the Durrës Waterworks has done several projects, but other investments are needed to find a solution. “Several studies and project designs have been done by the Durrës Waterworks, but funds are needed to intervene,” says the director.
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