Drin River by Huzri Hoxha
DO NOT PLACE DIBRA UNDERWATER, DO NOT BLOCK FREE FLOWING OF DRIN RIVER – SAY NO TO THE SKAVICA HYDROPOWER PLANT
By Ferzileta G.
The buzz of cicadas and the dust stirred by cars break the silence that has settled over the people of Dibra — a silence that calls for action, a call to awaken from the lethargic sleep that has taken hold.
Dibra does not need a ceremonial burial. It does not need flowers at an inauguration, drums at a ribbon-cutting, or hollow speeches that erase history with the stroke of a pen. What some call “development” cannot be built on the destruction of an entire region — on the displacement of its people, the flooding of its villages, the erasure of memory and traditional ways of life. That is why we say no to the Skavica hydropower plant.
Picture by Huzri Hoxha
Dibra is one of the richest regions in terms of natural and cultural heritage. The Drin River, which has flowed for centuries, is not merely a source of water — it is a source of life, of identity, of collective memory. Every bend of that river holds stories; every mountain holds the footprints of generations who have lived with dignity and effort. Building the Skavica hydropower plant means submerging entire villages, forcing out people who don’t want to leave, and destroying a way of life that is irreplaceable.
Instead of investing in sustainable development — like mountain tourism, organic agriculture, infrastructure improvements, and heritage preservation — we are choosing the easiest and blindest path: pouring concrete over nature. And for whom? For the hydropower mafia, for a small elite who grow rich at the expense of an entire population.
This is a project not in the interest of the community, but of narrow economic interests that see rivers as profit pipelines, not as lifelines.
The Skavica hydropower plant is not development. It is death disguised as progress. It is a funeral ceremony wrapped in drums and cheers meant to silence Dibra forever. No one asked the people what they want. There was no referendum, no genuine public hearings. Only one-sided, imposed decisions.
But Dibra is not no man’s land. It belongs to its people. It belongs to the generations born and raised there, who watered the land with sweat, who kept alive the culture, the language, the hospitality. No one has the right to drown this reality. Not in the name of energy, and not in the name of the state.
If we allow this to happen, tomorrow it will be another region’s turn. And we will keep on staying silent, until we are all submerged — not in water, but under the weight of neglect and forgetfulness.
That is why we must rise today. Because tomorrow may be too late.
Skavica must not happen.
Dibra must not be Placed under water!
We must save biodiversity and natural beauty of Drin River.
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