Author: Ardit Hoxha
Described as the "blue eye" of Berat, the source and canyon of Sinec is a protected area by decision of the Council of Ministers in 2002. In recent years, this source has been transformed into a tourist attraction.
But the entire protected area, the canyon and its surrounding landscape that today attracts tourists, is in danger of being destroyed due to a project by the municipality of Kuçovo to build a water supply there to supply water to the seven villages of the Lumas administrative unit.
This situation has also caused continuous protests for almost 5 months by the residents of Lumas, who have come out against the project of this water supply. For the residents, the water supply system would destroy any possibility of hosting tourists and destruction of agriculture, since the water they use for irrigation would be piped.
For this community, the implementation of the water supply project is useless and damages the tourism perspective of the area. They raise concerns about the lack of transparency in the public consultation process.
For several weeks in a row, several protests, clashes with the police took place in this village, and some residents went on a hunger strike. The latter was stopped only after the decision of the National Agency of Protected Areas to suspend the works.
The natural and touristic values of the synecium
Sinec Park is located for the most part within the territory of the municipality of Gramsh and only a small part belongs to the municipality of Kuçovo. It represents a large-scale canyon formed by limestone formations and the continuous karst and erosive activity of the Sarasel stream. The canyon is estimated to be 300 meters deep at its maximum point, with steep slopes in some parts of it. The spring, the canyon together with the stream of Sarasel are appreciated for their scientific, ecological and touristic values.
According to the Kuçovo municipality and the Salillari company, the works developed up to these moments to build the water supply for the 7 villages of Lumas have not affected the protected area. Residents and their representative lawyer claim otherwise. According to the lawyer Arben Llangozi, the works were carried out within the protected area and in the perimeter around it, which is called a buffer zone and where there should be no constructions without the approval of the National Agency of Protected Areas.
" The water supply project lies and says that Sineci is not included in the protected areas. But there is no need for me to say anything about this, but this decision of 2022 overturns it. The project states that the lives of residents will not be affected, when in fact the opposite is happening, since the lives of residents are 100% affected. Work is being done in a protected area. The works must be done at a distance of 19 meters outside the protected area. The law says that the works should not be done even in the buffer zone and not only inside the protected area. The law says that a water permit must be obtained and they have not obtained the water permit until now, so even at this point they are in violation of the law ," Arben Llangozi told ACQJ.
As shown on this map provided by ACQJ, the planned reservoir for the aqueduct is within the buffer zone surrounding the protected area.
This finding also results from the inspection carried out by the National Agency of Protected Areas, Elbasan branch, which ultimately ordered the suspension of the works because the works were carried out in a protected area.
ACQJ addressed the Salillari Company for a reaction regarding the implementation of the project and the impact it will have on the protected area and the lives of the residents, but there was no response to our request for information until the time of publication of this article.
In 2016, the municipality of Kuçova, in its master plan, proposed the creation of a joint national park with the municipality of Gramsh, which would include the Sinec spring, along with the Xhixhilesa cave and other picturesque areas. “This would enable the preservation of this spring and its canyons, as well as its use as a national and local asset for the development of tourism. The promotion of the Sinec spring and canyons as a tourist area that offers opportunities for entertainment and relaxation,” this 2016 document states, among other things.
So, from the point of view of environmental experts, this issue will have to be looked at seriously, since the need for water supply to the residents of the area cannot damage a natural asset that has been protected since 2002.
University of Tirana professor Aleko Miho told ACQJ that despite the natural values of this spring, the behavior of the municipality is strange, as on the one hand it wants to use it as a tourist asset, and on the other hand it wants to take the water for water supply. " The area is valuable, from a hydrogeological point of view, waterfalls, canyons, globally threatened riparian river habitats, etc. For this reason, I support the request of the Kuçovë Municipality to become part of the system of Protected Areas, as a Natural Park (Category IV) (2016). I also strongly support the legitimate demands of the residents, for all the Services that this area has offered them for centuries. What surprises me, as elsewhere in Albania, is that the Kuçovë Municipality, on the one hand, proposes to declare it a Protected Area (2016), and on the other hand, allows investment to use the water of the Waterfall for drinking water for Kuçovë. An investment that is contrary to the protection of natural and tourist values, but also to other Services that this waterfall offers, such as irrigation, washing, quenching the thirst of livestock, not to mention the preservation of the surrounding flora and vegetation, aquatic fauna, climate mitigation, feeding the sources other underground streams, etc. ," emphasized Professor Miho.
In the same line of thought was the environmentalist Ahmet Mehmeti, for whom in no way should it be allowed that the Source of Sinec / Ujvara e Saraseli be destroyed. "The source of Sinec / Ujvara e Sarasel has environmental values for the very interesting water flow, biodiversity, the rock as a very special geological formation, the unique landscape, the social interest of the community near it, etc., etc. This natural monument is persistently preserved for 3 (three thousand) years of Albanian civilization, undamaged and adored. After three thousand years, a race of arrogant destroyers wants to destroy it for their insatiable interests", said Mehmeti, who also made a concrete proposal, "To appoint a forest guard (ranger) to have it under constant surveillance and to it must be from this area, as close as possible to the nature monument. He can also be assigned other tasks within the framework of Protected Areas".
Objections to the project
In order to provide a solution to the 30-year need for the supply of drinking water for the villages of Lumas, Pëllumbas, Bardhaj, Sheqëz, Vodëz, Krekëz and Koritëz, in 2017, the Kuçovo Municipality drew up a project for the construction of a water supply system that of Sinec - Saraseli took it to the taps of the residents in these villages. The Municipality of Kuçovo in a response to the Albanian Center for Quality Journalism states that several consultation meetings have been held with the residents of the area, to get their opinion in order to design a project that would comply with their requirements.
" This project had its origins in 2017, a period in which several meetings were held with the residents and elders of the villages of this administrative unit, and concerns were raised about the supply of drinking water in this area. Regarding the feasibility study, we would like to clarify that this project in this administrative unit will supply water to 7 villages or 5800 residents. We would also like to inform you that in the July-August period, there were cases where the Kuçovë municipality sent a water truck to the villages of Krekëz and Koritëz, as these villages have only one supply tap (natural source) that supplies the entire village, a source that is exhausted to the maximum during these 2 months ," it is emphasized in the response of the Kuçovë municipality given to ACQJ.
But this claim of the Kuçovo municipality is opposed by the lawyer Arben Llangozi, representative of the residents of Lumas. According to him, there was no consultation with the residents to take the water from the Sinec spring and distribute it to 7 villages. He claims that the Kuçovo Municipality, with the procedures it has followed to implement the project, has violated a number of laws.
"We have the documents and the entire complete file that the decision-making of the Kuçovë municipality is not based on the law. The water analyses that were done there have proven that the water is not suitable for use as drinking water. The municipality and the company should have obtained a permit for the water. The law on public consultations has not been implemented either. Article 16 of the law on local government has also been violated. 'For every decision-making, the local government must obtain the approval of the public...'. The irony in this story is that all those villages have waterworks. There has not been a single request from a citizen of those villages to have requested the construction of a waterworks. The project has also been changed there and currently the works that have been done have not been done based on the project," said lawyer Llangozi in an interview for ACQJ.
The costs of the project for the construction of the aqueduct and water supply of 7 villages is 361,206,231 ALL. All funding is covered by the National Agency for Water, Sewerage and Waste Infrastructure. Three companies participated in the competition, BAMI sh.pk with an offer of 358 ALL without VAT, ED KONSTRUKSION sh.pk, with an offer of 658 ALL without VAT and SALILLARI sh.pk with an offer of 979 ALL without VAT. The firms "Bami" and "Ed Konstruksion" were disqualified from the competition because they did not meet the criterion for the number of employees and for deficiencies in the documents submitted to the experts and engineers who would deal with the implementation of the project. The announcement of the winning company Salillari, which had submitted the lowest offer, was made on 359-403-183 and immediately after that the procedures for the implementation of the project on the ground started.
According to the Municipality of Kuçova, this project will put an end to the years of suffering of the residents of these villages for water and at a low cost, as the network will be free-flowing for 80% of its length. " The impetus for the construction of this project is the inability of the residents of these villages to have a regular supply of drinking water and for this reason we inform you that the Sinec spring is the only possibility to solve this problem. We also clarify that the water of the Sinec spring is 100% safe since in 2017 the municipality conducted analyses of this water at the Public Health Directorate and in a specialized private company. We also clarify that this project, taking water from the Sinec spring, will be implemented in 80% of its free flow, which means the municipality will not use pumps. The maintenance of this network will have almost zero cost ," the municipality's explanation, given to ACQJ, states.
Transparent
One of the main reasons behind the project for the construction of this aqueduct was transparency.
With a value of around 4 million euros, the water supply project in 2017 was to be financed by the German Development Bank. The opposition of the residents at that time to this project led to the withdrawal of the German Bank from the investment. " Contacts with the German Bank were made in 2017 and after several hearings were held, it was precisely these residents who opposed the construction of this water supply, which is why the German Bank withdrew. Another reason is the fact that the German Bank requires as a condition that the municipality finance part of the project, which was impossible for us. These 2 reasons also led to the failure of this project in 2017. This time this project is financed 100% by AKUM ," the municipality explained in the response given to ACQJ.
However, the reasons for the departure of the German Bank from the financing of this project and then its tendering with AKUM funds, where the Salillari company was announced as the winner, is one of the points that the residents consider as not clear and that leaves room for doubt.
Residents told ACQJ that they are not against the fact that drinking water goes to their taps, but they have many questions, starting with the suspicion that their lands may remain dry and without water.
" We are not against development, but we want them to come and explain to us what gains and losses we have from this project. We can't even go to our lands, because they have blocked the road with police. The police have stopped me and told me that you can't cross the road ," said Alkida, a resident of Lumas who has been protesting for weeks against the water supply project.
ACQJ spoke with another resident of Lumas, who said that neither the municipality nor the Salillari company had told her about the project. Residents also allude to taking water through pipes to build a water factory.
" The project implementer came here and didn't show us the project. She left, she hid. We paid 60 thousand lek per family and we all have Lumas as a commune in our house. We have the water supply. This job, they say, is to build a water supply on the water supply. They bring the police here and oppress the citizens who are not taxpayers. They are taking our water to sell it, don't they care what those villages drink so far? Every municipality has brought water through wells. They don't even have people for the water supply. Every village has water through wells. We sustain our lives with this water. If this water is brought in through pipes, there won't even be water for bees, because not for humans. We have our own water ," said Refija, a resident of Lumas.
Regarding the suspicions about the construction of a water plant at the Sinec spring, the Kuçovë municipality rejected any allusions, underlining: " The news that a water plant will be built in this area is completely untrue as every fact and evidence is completely verifiable. A water supply will be built in this area which will supply water to 7 villages and 5800 inhabitants. "
Currently, the project for the water supply of seven villages with the water of the Sinec spring has been suspended, but this does not calm the residents of Lumas at all. After these months of battle, these residents say they are ready to go on strike again and give everything to protect the source that has been theirs for centuries.
