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.
"In the project for the water supply, there is a lie and it is said that Sineci is not included in the protected areas. But for this there is no need for me to say anything, but this decision of 2022 overturns it. The project states that the lives of the residents will not be affected, when in fact the opposite happens, as the lives of the residents are affected 100%. Working 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 must not be done even in the buffer zone and not only within the protected zone. The law says that a water permit must be obtained and they have not obtained the water permit until this moment, so even at this point they are in violation of the law", said Arben Llangozi for 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 source of Sinec together with the cave of Xijile and other picturesque areas. "Such a thing enables the preservation of this source and its canyons as well as its use as a national and local asset for the development of tourism. Promotion of the source and the canyons of Sinec as a tourist area that offers opportunities for entertainment and recreation", it is stated, among other things, in this 2016 document.
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.
The professor of the University of Tirana, Aleko Miho, told ACQJ that in addition to the natural values of this source, it is strange the behavior of the municipality, which on the one hand wants to use it as a tourist asset, and on the other hand wants to take the water for water supply. "The area is valuable, from the hydrogeological point of view, waterfalls, canyons, globally threatened riparian river habitats, etc. For this reason, I support the request of the Kuçovo 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 the area has offered to them for centuries. What surprises me, as well as elsewhere in Albania, such as the Municipality of Kuçova, on the one hand proposes to declare a Protected Area (2016), and on the other hand allows the investment to use the water of Ujëvara for drinking water for Kuçova. Investment that is contrary to the protection of natural, touristic values, but also other Services that this waterfall offers, such as watering, washing, quenching the thirst of cattle, without talking about the preservation of the surrounding flora and vegetation, of aquatic fauna, softening climate, food of other underground sources during the flow, 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 clarify that 7 villages or 5800 inhabitants will be supplied with water from this project in this administrative unit. We also inform you that from the side of the municipality of Kuçovo, in the period July - August, there were cases when water trucks were sent to the villages of Krekëz and Koritëz, since these villages have only one supply tap (natural source) which supplies the entire village, source which exhausts these 2 months to the maximum", it is emphasized in the response of the municipality of Kuçovo 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 Kuçovo municipality is not based on the law. The water analyzes that have been done there have proven that the water is not suitable for use as drinking water. The municipality and the company would have to obtain a permit for the water. The law on consultations with the public has not been implemented either. It is also Article 16 i the law on local government that has been violated. "For every decision-making, the local government must get the approval of the public...". The irony in this story is that all those villages have water pipes. There has not been a single request from a citizen of those villages who requested the construction of a water supply system. The project was also changed there and currently the works that were done were not done on the basis of 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 suffering of the residents of these villages for several years for water and at a low cost, since the network in 80% of its length will be free-flowing. "The impetus for the construction of this project is the inability of the inhabitants of these villages to have a regular supply of drinking water, and for this reason we inform you that the source of Sinec is the only possibility to solve this problem. We also explain to you that the water of the source of Sinec is 100% safe since in 2017 the municipality carried out the analysis of this water at the Directorate of Public Health and at a specialized private company. We also clarify that this project, taking water from the source of Sinec, will be realized in 80% of it with free flow, which means that the municipality will not use pumps. The maintenance of this network will have almost zero cost", it is stated in the clarification of the municipality, given to ACQJ.
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 project for the water pipeline in 2017 would be financed by the German Development Bank. The objections 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 took place in 2017, and after several hearings, 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 a part of the project, which was impossible from our side. These 2 reasons led to the failure of this project in 2017. This time this project is 100% financed by AKUM", clarified the municipality in the answer 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 the development, but we want them to come and explain to us what profit and what losses we have from this project. We can't even go to our lands, because they have blocked the road with the police. The police stopped me and told me that you cannot cross the road", said Alkida, a resident of Lumas who has been protesting for weeks against the water pipeline 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 did not show us the project. He ran away, he hid. We have paid 60 lek to each family and we have everyone as Lumas municipality in our house. We have the water supply. This work, they say to build aqueduct on top of aqueduct. They bring the police here and oppress the citizens who are tax payers. They are taking our water to take it for trade, don't you care what those villages are drinking until now? Every municipality has brought water through wells. They don't even care about the water supply. Every village has well water. We keep our soul with this water. If this piped water is brought in, there won't even be water for the bee, but for one, no, no. We have our own water", said Refija, a resident of Lumas.
Regarding the doubts about the construction of a water factory at the source of Sinec, the municipality of Kučovo rejected any allusion, 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 pipeline 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.
