Residents of Miredita in the north of Albania protested on Sunday against the construction of five hydropower plants they say will impact their homes, livelihood and access to the water they need to work the land.
In 2018, a concession for five HPPs was granted, but the residents of seven surrounding villages prevented the start of work through legal action. On Sunday, they protested as they say the company has returned to the area and was set to start work, endangering their access to water.
“We have gone out other times, but now the going out is getting wilder. You took away our water, they took away our lives. We will continue the protests”, Mark Përkola, a resident of the area, told BIRN.
Legal action against the proposed plants started when residents sued the company and local municipal officials for corruption, forgery of documents and abuse of duty. The file was registered in the Special Court Against Organised Crime and Corruption but passed to the Lezhe Prosecutor’s Office.
After investigations, the latter concluded there was no basis for any of the claims, and the court dismissed it. Citizens disagreed and appealed, but since November 2021, there has been no movement on the case.
Albania generates almost 100% of its energy through hydropower, one of only a handful of European countries that do not use gas. But this is problematic, particularly in climate change, which significantly impacts the region. During 2022, low rainfall caused concern over water levels in the country’s reservoirs on multiple occasions.
Rural Balkan communities fight back, and win, against hydropower plants
As Europe embarks on a rocky transition to renewable energy, Albania, where hydropower produces almost 100% of electricity, is facing its own issues. Communities impacted by the building of hydroelectric dams are fighting back, and they are winning.
Residents have also been active in protesting against the construction of the Skavica dam in the Dibra region. The project would see more than 58 square miles of, mainly agricultural land and forest, flooded along with 41 villages.
The 147-metre high dam has drawn critique from international organisations, including Bankwatch, who said the risks for people and nature far outweigh the economic benefits.
“In the worst cases, vast areas of land are flooded, many people need to abandon their homeland, rivers are converted into artificial reservoirs, wild animals are brought to extinction, and the country is left with foreign debts and a climate-vulnerable energy system.
Considering all these criteria, the planned Skavica dam in Albania is highly damaging.” Bankwatch said.
The WWF is currently advocating for no more hydropower plants in Europe because it destroys rivers and biodiversity. In the case of Albania, they noted that it was also massacring communities and destroying cultures, livelihoods and ways of life.
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
Source: euractiv.com
