Denada Jushi
Opposite the building with the arrows in the area near the ring road at the beginning of the road, multi-story buildings are being built, whose residents tell us that the smell coming from the Lana River discharge is one of the biggest challenges of living in that area!
"I once only wanted to buy a house, but without thinking that I was opening myself up to a problem that would never go away. I can't open the windows because the wind from the Lana River is strong, especially when it rains," tells us a resident who has lived there for more than a decade!
A recent report by the Supreme State Audit Office shows that the river that runs through the middle of the capital is in an alarming environmental state, becoming a danger to public health, the ecosystem no longer exists in it, but also the quality of life of many citizens!
According to these data from the Albanian Supreme Audit Institution, the Lana River is almost consistently classified in Class V, meaning the lowest level of quality. This category, according to European Union standards, implies extreme degradation of the aquatic ecosystem.
Hydrotechnical engineer Erjon Kalaja says this classification is a danger!
“The very bad status under the EU Water Framework Directive means that the river has almost completely lost its ecological function and constitutes an active source of risk to the environment and public health,” he underlines.
But the danger doesn't stop there!
Residents who live near the area known as the River Bank tell us about another problem that does not stop only with the smell and the environment, but with the crops that are irrigated by the water flows that flow into the Lana, and ends up with the vegetables and fruits... which we then consume.
"We eat pollution," says water researcher Bilbil Daci with concern:
"The main contaminants are ammonia, odors, microbes such as Streptococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, mycotoxins, and various chemicals."
Claiming that we also get it from vegetables, because in the final part this water is used for irrigation.
He emphasizes that wastewater also pollutes groundwater and wells, especially in areas like Laknasi, where residents use uncontrolled water for consumption.
"The water is extremely polluted and the residents have no water supply network," adds Daci.
According to Erjon Kalasa, bacterial contamination from fecal water creates a real epidemiological risk, especially for residents near the river and for children who are exposed during floods. The report further highlights that about 85 discharge points directly discharge polluted water into the Lana River, in the urban segment of Tirana alone. In the suburbs, the situation becomes even more serious where individual discharges are uncontrolled and completely lacking treatment.
Polluted waters, a persistent problem!
The sewage system built in 1964 was designed for exactly this purpose, to discharge wastewater directly into the river.
But not until 2026!
The sewage system, designed in 1964, seems to remain the only "salvation" for the years to come. Although hope was raised by a major project financed since 2008 through a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the reality today is a financial ruin and environmental disaster.
Instead of a solution, the Albanian government has produced a hefty bill: The International Court of Arbitration in London considered the decision of the Ministry of Infrastructure to terminate the contract illegal, penalizing Albania with a compensation of 13.5 million euros. This is money coming out of the pockets of citizens, while the Kashari Plant (ITUN), which has remained at 70% of the works since 2018, continues to degrade under the mercy of time.
Braçe demands an account.
This serial failure has already provoked reactions at the highest political levels. Socialist MP Erion Braçe submitted an official request for interpellation to the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Enea Karakaçi, on Monday, April 20. Braçe demands an account of the progress of the JICA project and the reasons why Greater Tirana still remains without a final wastewater treatment system.
This move by Braça comes at a time when he has openly expressed his ambition to run for mayor of Tirana in the 2027 local elections.
The Albanian Supreme Audit Office (ALSH) raises concerns that the lack of maintenance is leading to the loss of an investment worth tens of millions of euros, with structures being damaged by time and natural factors.
The Albanian Supreme Audit Office (ALSH) highlights an interconnected institutional failure. The Municipality of Tirana and UKT have not planned concrete investments to stop pollution, focusing mainly on water supply and not on wastewater treatment.
In this case too, we reached out to both of these institutions to learn more about the planning, but above all the reasons why they do not foresee intervention in the sewerage and treatment of the river, but we have not received a response!
The problem goes on like a chain where no link seems to be doing its job! The lack of complete monitoring is also a problem. According to the Albanian Supreme Audit Office, out of 4 planned monitoring stations, only 2 are functioning.
Erjon Kalaja adds that "The lack of biological and microbiological monitoring prevents a real assessment of the ecological status of the river, as required by the Water Framework Directive."
This means that the real extent of the pollution could be even more severe than reported.
Europe, a standard that cannot be achieved!
In European Union countries, the discharge of untreated wastewater into rivers, especially in capital cities, is practically prohibited. Capitals like Vienna, Berlin or Paris have advanced wastewater treatment systems, where the water passes through filtration and biological treatment plants, monitoring is complete, pollutants are controlled according to strict standards!
Even in cases where rivers have been historically polluted, such as the Seine in Paris, billions of dollars in investments have been undertaken to rehabilitate them.
After all the concerns of the reports, the institutions that do not respond, the residents near the River Bank, pick some cherries that have just started to ripen, hold them up and say, if you don't mind, eat them, they are delicious, not safe!
The reason is the irrigation water flowing from the Lana River!
Lana remains today the clearest reflection of a crisis where politics, administration and the environment collide, while the residents pay both the health and financial bills.acqj.al
