May 24th, 2024

Press release

Opposition to Skavica Dam

oppositionskavica@gmail.com

+355 696752775

On 22.05.2024, with protocol number 1865, a circular decision in the form of a resolution against the Skavice hydropower plant project was submitted to Diber Municipality.

This resolution, which you can find attached, was signed on 03.05.2024 by 16 councilors of the Diber municipality council, out of 31 councilors in total, making up the majority of members.

Earlier, a request with the signatures of more than 1/3 of the council members, dated 19.04.2024, was administered in the protocol of Diber Municipality, with no. 1508, dt. 22.04.2024, for the holding of a meeting of the council to inform both the members and the community about this project.

Such a meeting, especially for HEC Skavice, would be welcome, and the association “Opposition to the Skavice Dam” also, through an official request, had expressed interest in being part of it.

This meeting has not been called.  The association “Opposition to the Skavice Dam” would like to thank all the members who signed this resolution, who, although they belong to a wide political spectrum of left and right, represented the interests of the residents, expressing themselves clearly and with arguments about why this project is harmful and should not be developed.  While the first phase of this project is ongoing, now, after two public court hearings in the constitutional court during the year 2023/2024, after many expertise and social environmental impact assessment documents published by KESH, there are enough arguments to determine the negative impact to expect from this project.  We must emphasize that KESH has not yet announced a final version of this dam, but we now officially know that the flood quota of this dam is expected to reach up to 442 meters above sea level.

Furthermore, based on official correspondence with Diber municipality and KESH, it is now known that the project area includes 10 of the 15 administrative units of Diber municipality (and three villages in Kukes), making this municipality non-functional in case it is to be implemented.    These data so far, fully legitimize the action of the Diber municipal council members at this time, even though the first phase is ongoing, in their attempt to prevent irreparable damage.  This is the purpose of this circular decision in the form of a resolution.   In other words, this resolution aims to establish an impassable dam in Diber for this project with great impact, which practically depopulates the area of ​​the Black Drin Basin, displaces thousands of residents and floods thousands of homes and not only. This resolution is addressed to all authorities, public and non-public, which are included in this project. There, the cancellation of the project is requested, as well as the municipality of Diber is requested not to be content with the role it has assigned to itself until now, that of the coordinator, but to assume the constitutional role and the same as the residents, to oppose the project. In this document, the popular attitude against this project of the residents of Dibra is recognized by the municipal council, expressed in dozens of protests both in Skavice, Kukes and in various places in Diber and in Tirana, but also developed abroad, in many requests, petitions, tables, etc. Among other things, it is also requested to stop the fait accompli, asking the authorities to implement the law and the constitution, consulting the residents.

We would like to point out that the Constitutional Court, with its decision number 03/2024, decided that the special law for the Skavice hydropower plant, number 38/2021, proposed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, represented by Mrs. Belinda Balluku, violated article 56 of the constitution which determines that everyone has the right to be informed about the state of the environment and its protection. This draft law was not consulted with the public and during the sessions in the commissions, no representatives of the interest groups and the community were present. Every major decision on this project was practically made behind closed doors and unfortunately, it seems that this practice continues to be the norm even after this court decision. This decision of the Constitutional Court obliges all authorities to guarantee the right to information during the first phase of the law and to reflect the results of consultations according to Article 8 of the Aarhus Convention. In this resolution, the objectives for the development of the area are clearly defined by the majority of the council members who have signed, which go against this project, in terms of the development of tourism in the four seasons, based on the features that characterize Dibra. There is a call for the cessation of discriminatory approaches for the residents, and the parliament is requested not to adopt acts and laws that violate the vital interests of the residents of Dibra.   Compliance with standards during the development of Social Environmental Impact Assessments is another requirement of this resolution. We inform the public opinion that the Association “Opposition to the Skavice Dam” will at all times advance the interests of the residents affected by this hydropower plant, whether in Diber or Kukes, with any decision-making authority.  With respectFerzileta VladiRepresentative”Opposition to the Skavice dam”

oppositionskavica@gmail.com

+355 696752775