Author: Marjo Braka
Since 2016, the government has regularly paid millions of euros to the concessionaire for the realization of the Fier incinerator. This work was expected to solve the problem of waste treatment of the city that produces over 60 thousand tons of waste. But what the concession for the construction of the incinerator has "produced" to date, are the degradation of the environment and the economic damage that continues to deepen. Today Fieri, instead of an incinerator, has a waste collection and burning field, turning into an "environmental bomb".
Four kilometers from the center of the city of Fier, in the place called "Mbrostar", there is a waste field. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, 60,311.72 tons of waste are deposited there every year. Only the urban area of Fier, for 2017, deposited an amount of 49,731 tons of waste. The space of 5 hectares is the only storage place for the waste of the nine administrative units of the municipality of Fier. It has been used as a garbage dump since 1970, when Fieri had 30 inhabitants, while today the city has almost 200 inhabitants.
"The inappropriate location, very close to the bed of the Gjanica River, the Roskovec-Hoxha collector, the settlements and the railway line, makes this landfill simultaneously present a risk for the environment and the community of the area",- said Faktoje, Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy.
The Municipality of Fier, through the "Strategic Environmental Assessment" report dated 29.12.2016, reported the emergency for the closure and rehabilitation of the waste collection point in the Sheq neighborhood.
Faktoje also asked the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy about the field of waste in Fier and the development plan for this area.
On December 16, 2017, with KKT Decision No. 15, dated 16.10.2017 "On the approval of the permit for the facility: "Construction and administration of the urban waste treatment plant of Fier District and energy production", located in Fier Municipality ” the new regional urban waste treatment plant for Fier County was approved.
The winning entity of the concession contract is the company "Integrated Technology Waste Treatment Fier” sh.pk at the same time also the developer of this project.
From the data of National Business Center, Integrated Technology Waste Treatment Fier was established on 03.10.2016 with the legal form "Limited Liability Company, SPV (Special Purpose Entity)".
"Construction, administration, operation and transfer of the Fier District urban waste treatment plant and energy production to the Contracting Authority, which includes financing, construction, commissioning, production, supply, transmission, distribution, sale and export of electricity , in implementation of this concession contract as well as any other commercial activity which is related to and is carried out in support of the object of the concession contract or the project as a whole. Apart from the commercial activity carried out under this contract, the company is not allowed to carry out any other type of commercial activity, except when this company receives written approval from the Contracting Authority. Development of mining activity with surface and underground works. Transport and work with explosives"- it is stated in the object of the subject's activity.
Integrated Technology Waste Treatment Fier turns out to have benefited more than 2,3 billion Lek as transactions from 03.11.2016 to 11.12.2019, by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy. In the description of the invoice, in the following table, it is clarified that the 37 transactions are installments for the Fier incinerator.
4 years have passed since the conclusion of the contract with the concessionaire Integrated Technology Waste Treatment Fier, but the incinerator is still not in operation.
"Faktoje", on May 5, was in Verri Village, in the place designated for the construction of the incinerator that will treat the city's waste, but everything was in the construction process.
Access to the space where "Integrated Technology Waste Treatment Fier" is being built, according to company representatives, was "categorically not allowed".
"Photography is not allowed. You have to get permission from Tirana. Such are the orders", answered the manager of the incinerator works, without preferring to be identified.
"It's almost ready. It will be put into operation in a few months. The garbage of the whole city will be collected here", he added.
"Faktoje" had earlier tried to contact the representatives of Integrated Technology Waste Treatment Fier, but could not get an answer.
The Mayor of Fier, Armando Subashi, through a video post on the "Facebook" social network on June 26, 2019, presented DESIgN how the field of waste would be transformed, with the inscription "This is how the field of waste will be done, which for three decades continues to remain the biggest problem of the city"
But unlike this promise, when FAKTOJE asked for official information about what was expected to happen with the waste field, Fier Municipality "passed the ball" to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy.
Waste field, environmental emergency in the absence of an incinerator!
Although the waste field in Fier is considered an "Environmental Emergency", the incinerator has not yet been built, and the money is regularly paid to the concessionaire.
"Faktoje" asked the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy at what stage is the construction of the incinerator. We were informed that so far 95 percent of the works have been completed.
"Faktoje" also asked why the incinerator, which is still not operational, is still being paid for by the State Budget. MIE answered this question with the conditions stipulated in the contract with the concessionaire.
The non-functional incinerator continues to be paid by the State Budget since 2016 in the amount of ALL 752,772,000 per year!
"Invoice" asked the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, regarding the payments to the concessionaire.
As explained by the Economy expert, Fatos Çoçoli, based on LAW no. 125/2013 "For Concessions and Public Private Partnership, the concessionaire can sue the state in case of unilateral termination of the contract.
"If payment is stopped for a single concession or PPP, the concessionaire immediately sues our state. When the government in 2014 tried to stop payments and the concession of customs scanning, the concessionaire company demanded 359 million euros in international arbitration and the dispute was closed by halving the price of scanning", explained Çoçoli.
At a time when the country is facing a heavy economic blow due to the pandemic, the environmental cost and the luxury expenses for phantom works are turning into aggravating schemes at the expense of Albanians.
*Photo at the top of the article: Standard.al
"This article is published within the project "Facts and Environment", implemented by the Albanian Center for Quality Journalism and Faktoje, in the framework of the project "Toward the Improvement of Labor Relations and Professionalism in the Albanian Media" supported by the European Union, implemented by the Albanian Media Institute and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Sole responsibility for the content of this article is the author's and under no circumstances can it be considered to reflect the position of the European Union"
