Denis Tahiri
The quality of washing water in Albania has become a problem that has received special attention, as a result of the transformation of the tourism sector into a priority sector in the country.
in 2022, where 119 points were subjected to water quality monitoring, of which 113 were on the coast and 6 inland, 67.2% of them had an excellent quality, 23.5% a good quality, 2.5% were categorized as sufficient and 6.7% had a bad quality. But a year later, this report changed a lot. For the year 2023, from 119 points where the quality of washing water is monitored, only 41.2% had excellent quality, 37% good quality, 6.7% sufficient and 15.1% poor quality.
This deterioration in the quality of washing water, measured by the European Environment Agency, seems to have been the main impetus of the Albanian Government to implement a Normative Act, for the treatment of polluted water for entities that developed their economic activity near the coast, shores of lakes and rivers.
According to the accompanying documents of this nominative act, about 9000 subjects were in its focus, and by April 2024 these subjects should be equipped with wastewater treatment plants.
For the control of these subjects whether or not they had fulfilled the legal obligation, a task force was also set up within the National Water, Sewerage Agency. Of the 9000 subjects of the normative act, by the end of September 2024, only 200 had presented the technical-legal documentation. From January, when the normative act was approved, until the end of September, when "Sinjalizo" has the data, checks were carried out on 1000 subjects, i.e. 1 in 9 of the total subjects. AKUK itself officially admits that the task force is facing problems.
"The very wide territorial scope of the subjects of the Normative Act is one of the main problems. The Task Force has a limited number of inspectors while the subjects cover almost the entire territory of the Republic of Albania", says AKUK for "Signalizo".
In the official response AKUK says that the normative act with the force of law is not exhaustive since the main purpose of this act: "is to achieve the objective of at least 95% of washing water with "excellent" quality, ensuring a clean environment and improving the quality of life for citizens". But it seems that we are still very far from this objective, since in 2023, only 41.2% of washing waters were part of the excellent category and a recovery of 53.8% is needed.
The business is fined, but dozens go to court
Vasil Bedinaj, who is the head of tourist operators in the city of Vlora, and owns 4 accommodation structures, says that the costs of these facilities are high and they do not have any results.
"300 euros are unplanned and are lek that are a waste and there is no result to be given", adding that they are not against the placement of these plants for entities that are no longer connected to the sewage system, although in Vlora, according to him, 80% of entities are connected to the network. "They also forced us, who are connected to the sewage system, it doesn't make sense, so clean the mind and throw it back into the mind." he says, adding that almost most of the entities have been fined, including himself, because he has contracts with companies for setting up plants.
"We were given the addresses of some companies, which made it clear that those who made the law also make the companies". he says, adding that the company signed the contract with the subject, where after making the payment of 30% according to the contract, the date for the assembly was set, which was October 29, where three weeks ago the businessman was given two weeks. "On the day I made the payment of 80% of the total, they notified each other, I made the payment at 10 in the morning, the group was in Vlora and at 3 in the afternoon they decided the fines because the firm that should have finished it also made the fine. I ate it." says Mr. Bedinaj, adding that the fines will go to court.
Data that are not
In response to a request for information, AKUK says that according to their data, until September 20, 2024, the number of entities that have installed individual wastewater treatment plants from which they have installed and submitted technical documentation -legal for the start of works are about 200 subjects.
"During these months of the Task Force's activity, a total of 74 administrative measures were imposed". is officially expressed by AKUK where, among other things, it says that: "Currently, the Municipality of Vlorë and the Municipality of Himar have the highest number of installation of these plants and the application process continues".
From the data provided by Sinjalizo for Vlora, the trials are not few. 26 processes have been registered in the first degree against the Water and Sewerage Agency from May 30, 2024 to September 30, 2024. While sources say that this figure is currently around 30 trials. Which shows that the implementation of this legal initiative is not progressing as it was presented, where by April 2024, the subjects should be equipped with plants.
Although it was asked how many subjects of Normative Act No. 8 are in the country, this institution itself does not know how to give a numerical answer, but states that: "are all subjects, which carry out economic activities in the coastal areas and the bottom of lakes and rivers, which do not pre-treat polluted waters". This answer raises doubts about the implementation of this normative act in the entire territory of the country, while the difficulties are also accepted by AKUK itself.
"The Task Force has carried out and is continuing to carry out a complete monitoring along the coastal and lake areas to ensure the implementation of the normative act. The very wide territorial scope of the subjects is one of the main problems. The Task Force has a limited number of inspectors, while the subjects cover almost the entire territory of the Republic of Albania". says this institution.
From January 2024 to September 20, 2024, AKUK officially says that about 1000 inspections have been carried out. "As for the case of Lezhe, the task force was set up only once and did the verification regarding the verification of these waste water plants, which means that from that moment until today there has been no other case for verified if these plants work, have been installed, etc." says Gjergj Figuri, tourism expert in Lezhe, who adds that in his knowledge there are one or two entities that have set up these plants before the decision was issued, while there is no administrative measure for the other entities.
When the state doesn't do it, it charges the private person
In 2023, coverage at the country level for sewage was at the level of 54.8% at the national level. "Again, it remains far from the required level", says the Water Regulatory Authority in its 2023 performance report.
But from the data in this report, doubts arise that they are not correct. "The population in the area of jurisdiction for the year 2023 for 17 UK companies is reported to be about 4 inhabitants, of which 367 inhabitants have access to the wastewater collection service. the report says. On the other hand, the population census carried out in 2023 states that the total number of inhabitants of Albania is 2,402,113 citizens who live inside the country.
Among other things, in the ERRU report, it is stated that investments in the sector for sewerage Services have been few and always differentiated, more attention has been paid to the water supply service, where differentiation has also been excited between urban and rural areas, where priority has having urban areas.
"Covering the service with KUN (wastewater sewerage) and ITUN (Wastewater Treatment Plant) remains a challenge for the Uk sector to be realized in the future, bearing in mind that it is also one of the requirements that must be met within the membership of Albania in the EU", it is stated in the report of the Water Regulatory Entity, where it is added that according to a recent study by the World Bank, it reaches the level of about 2.5 billion Euros.
