Author: Klevis Paloka
Dozens of citizens are placed under the effects of the law for the charge of building without a permit, be it from the most insignificant works inside the house or even for the arrangement of the exterior decor. Faced with this strict attitude towards ordinary citizens, the implementation of the law does not bring the same consequences when it comes to state institutions. Such a case was signaled by a citizen and shows how for public investments, heavy tonnage vehicles and employees wearing special vests first disembark. This event is announced virtually. Meanwhile, the documents are completed much later.
Chronologically, the mayor of the Municipality of Kolonje, Erion Isai, through a post on the Facebook social network that he uses as his official profile, announced by attaching photos the start of works for the construction of the Korçë-Ersekë road, the 2nd lot.
The mayor's status was published on October 12, 2020 and contains the message of a promise that is being fulfilled.
"The site rose, the wall fell. May the road that breathes Cologne be (and will be) fast and prosperous", Isai writes, among other things. Among the commentators who wish for the investment, others appear with reservations about the delayed memory for this axis, since according to them the construction of the road was opened on the eve of the elections.
Precisely using virtual communication, a citizen continues his suspicious attitude by filing a report with the "Albanian Center for Quality Journalism". "These works are being carried out without a construction permit, without an Environmental Impact Decision and without a works supervisor", the whistleblower writes the data, which for reasons of secrecy will be kept anonymous.
The sign further indicates that the design was also changed along with the current road sign. What remains to be seen is that most residents will have difficulty displacing the old stain, with businesses the hardest hit and at risk of bankruptcy.
Without construction permit and EIA
"Is a permit available for this axle?", was the question that the "Albanian Center for Quality Journalism" officially addressed to the Territorial Development Agency.
Through e-mail, this institution confirms the lack of construction permit documentation.
"In response to your e-mail dated 20.11.2020, we inform you that, until this moment, the National Council of the Territory has not approved a building permit for the object "Korçë - Erseke Road, Lot 2", says the agency's official response.
This issue enters the agenda of the Territorial Development Agency almost two months after the start of the works. According to the available documents, the construction permit was signed on December 3, while the works were progressing, although the law is clear.
The same violation is observed according to the notification of the citizen for the lack of environmental statement. The National Environment Agency officially responds to the "Albanian Center for Quality Journalism":
"Currently, the developer has received the notification from KTA and is in the stages of preparing consultations. I emphasize that it has not yet been equipped with an Environmental Declaration”, is officially described for the second letter that is considered necessary for the file. But from the examination of the documents, it is understood that while the works have started, the Municipality of Kolonje has not even thought of conducting a study on the impact of the changes on the axis and at the same time forgets the residents.
"We sent a response to the Municipality of Cologne on November 5, following the request that the latter had started on October 14, 2020, to provide an environmental statement". explains the institution that deals with environmental issues.
"After receiving from our side the notification for the continuation of the procedure, where the tasks related to further developments are left to the subject, the subject continues with the public consultation procedures and drafts an in-depth EIA, to be equipped with the Environmental Statement". KTA adds.
But when asked why the works were started without a permit, without an EIA and without holding public meetings, the mayor of Kolonja delegated the responsibility to his subordinates.
"The Municipality of Cologne is not the contracting authority", emphasized Isai, according to which the details belong to the relevant specialists.
Specialists who confused the village of Selenica with Selenica Municipality
But the biggest paradox is revealed by the requests between the institutions, where it is noted that the municipality of Kolonje applying for the Korçë-Ersekë segment, in fact in the documents, the map showed that the road was being built elsewhere. From the communication between the Environmental Agency and the National Agency of Protected Areas, it appears that the Municipality of Kolonje was not even able to provide the correct coordinates for the investment, confusing Selenica village with Selenica Municipality, the latter tens of kilometers away and even more so the municipality in itself located in the south of the country.
"To express for Application no. AN141020200005 with the activity "Construction of roads, ports and port installations, including fishing ports”, with developers 'COLOGNE MUNICIPALITY' we need the exact coordinates as those in the application fall in the Selenicë Vlora Municipality", says AKZM in the response that the National Environment Agency sent back to the Cologne Municipality.
Such a remark exposes the haste with which the investment started and also the speed with which the municipality of Kolonje was applying for the Korçë-Ersekë road, lot 2.
In the field, other problems can be seen with the naked eye, such as a table showing that the supervisors are provisional.
While in the official response of the ARRSH, which is also the investor of this project for the "Albanian Center for Quality Journalism", it is said that permission was obtained from the KKT, but they do not give an answer because the works have started without an EIA and why the track has been changed on the way.
A file that speaks volumes!
From the documents provided by the "Albanian Center for Quality Journalism", it appears that the Road Authority sent an "Invitation for proposal" to five companies on December 7, 2020. Object: to carry out "Construction Works Supervision, Korçë-Ersekë road, Lot 2 (first part)", with the limit fund of 18.920.120,67 Lek (not including the value of VAT).
The companies according to the file are: "GEOCONSULT & CO", "ERSI/M", "CEC", "MCE" and "IKN BUILDING CONSULTANCY INSTITUTE".
While the company that has won the right to carry out the works is the company "ANK".
This project with 4 kilometers of road will cost Albanians 2.3 billion new ALL.
In a document provided by the "Albanian Center for Quality Journalism", the Albanian Road Authority states that the reduction of large works of art (bridges) has been made, where the new project foresees only one bridge, while the old project envisaged 5 bridges.
Also, the new project has a maximum longitudinal slope of L=257.9 m with 9.56%, while the maximum longitudinal slope in the 2020 project is 9.97% in a length of L=1km.
If the reduction of large works of art was done and the maximum longitudinal slope was reduced by only 0.41%, experts ask the rhetorical question why then the total cost of this project increased.
Streets for others, not for residents
In the new project, the road's footprint overlooks a string of villages in the area. For the residents, this brings their isolation.
Ertil Demiri, a resident of the village of Shtikë in Kolonje, says that the new track is moved to a considerable distance from the main axis and that, among other things, it will be difficult for children to go to school. But he also repeats facts that are clear in the documents, the lack of consultation between the Municipality and the residents.
"With the changes that have been made, we move 5 kilometers from the national road, this brings difficulties for the children and what's more, we were not even asked", says the resident.
The residents of the village of Helmës have the same concerns, the main one being the neglect to connect this rural area with the national road.
"The change of the track brings us many consequences, since from the 800 meters that we now have on the current road, with the new road we leave about 6 km. We are left without a connecting road with the national road. There was no consultation on the part of the Municipality of Cologne regarding the construction of this road", said Artur Nazarko.
Another resident of this village adds the consequences that the change of track will bring for these areas, but also for her village.
"Changing the route of the road brings consequences in the difficulty of connecting the inhabitants of the village with cities such as Korça or Erseka due to public transport, because the road where the vans, taxis or buses will pass is located at a great distance. Also, residents who sell agricultural products as street vendors in certain places on the road will no longer have the opportunity, because this distance makes it impossible for them. It would also lead to a depopulation of the village, because the above-mentioned impossibilities bring economic difficulties for the inhabitants, so they will leave in areas towards an area where they will have the opportunity to create these economic conditions. So far there has been no consultation with residents about this change", underlines the young woman Ambra.N.
According to the elder Jani Jano, 110 residents live in Helmës village and none of them were asked or informed about the changes that were being made.
Another elder, the one from the village of Shtikë, Erjon Hamzaj testifies to the total disregard of the community and also the complete isolation of this area without providing a connecting axis with the new road. "There was no consultation with the residents about the change of track and with the new track we move at least 7 kilometers away", says Hamzaj, the headman of Butkë village.
Selenica, the only village asked...
As invisible as the residents, the tax-paying subjects of the area that carry out tourist activities and the agritourism businesses that, apart from the income in the state budget, provide income and jobs for the residents with few economic opportunities turned out to be invisible.
The only village that seems to have existed for the municipality of Kolonje is Selenica. There, the residents were asked and listened to. But the hearing with the village, which has 600 inhabitants, was held two months after the construction tape was cut. The facts of the turn of the elder of the village Engjëll Jaho.
"The current road passes close to our village, while the new track takes us about 1 kilometer away. The hearing with the residents was held on December 7, 2020", says the elder of Selenica.
The truth of residents and documents
In the introduction to the project, it is emphasized that the implementation of the project is the result of cooperation with local authorities and the community of the area.
The written explanation guarantees that the segment with length L = 4.15 km passes near the villages of Helmës, Pepelash, Roshanj, Boshanj. But in reality some of these villages are significantly overlooked by the existing road patch.
Expert Romeo Nazarko, who is a resident of the area, claims that the segment with length L = 4.15 km does not pass near the village of Helma, but from a distance of 600 meters as the crow flies that was in the first approved project, it goes to a distance of 2.3 km or 2300 meters.
Also, the village of Pepellash is not related to this trail, as it is connected to the first lot currently implemented, while the villages of Roshanj and Boshanj do not undergo any changes with this trail.
The project states that the length of the 4.15 km road passes through a steep terrain, where it crosses the hilly-mountain range on the northern side of the Kolonje Plateau.
The consequences of the new approved project for the inhabitants of the villages of Kolonje that are positioned on the Gramozi plateau?
Expert Nazarko notes that the new track increases the road distance from the villages of the Gramoz plateau to the national road and automatically makes it difficult for the children of these villages to attend education in Erseke.
"Businesses that have developed in that area may, due to the great difficulties they have gone through as a result of the old road, with the change of the road track according to the interests of one or the other party lead them to bankruptcy, this is not a luxury for the district of Kolonja where a business takes years to grow and develop. The new track due to the project change, further fragments the lands divided by the 7501 land law", concludes the expert who shares the concerns of the residents.
