FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
As protests against the project in Zvërnec and the island of Sazan have continued for almost two weeks, Prime Minister Edi Rama has attempted to respond to criticism by releasing a series of figures and statistics on his government's environmental policies.
In a speech given during the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Socialist Party, Rama focused at length on protected areas, arguing that it is precisely his government that has done more than anyone else to protect nature in Albania.
" The first law on protected areas was made by the SP government in our first mandate. Until 2017, Albania did not have a law on protected areas. It was we who, during the second and third mandates, increased the area of protected areas of the Republic of Albania to 25%. A quarter of the territory is a protected area ," Rama declared.
The Prime Minister then listed a series of indicators, talking about the creation of the National Agency for Protected Areas, the administration of national parks, and the blocking of hydropower projects in some of the most sensitive areas of the country.
" Albania is the only country in the region with an administration throughout the territory for protected areas, with 12 national parks, 11 protected landscapes and 700 natural monuments. It was we who blocked the permits granted on our riverbeds, where on the magical Valbona River alone we have stopped the construction of 9 hydroelectric power plants ," he said.
An important part of Rama's argument was related to the Vjosa River, which the government declared a National Park after canceling dozens of contracts for hydroelectric power plants.
" For the declaration of Vjosa as a national park, together with its branches, on an area of 12 thousand hectares, we have canceled 40 hydropower plant contracts ," said the Prime Minister.
However, while Rama was listing the figures and projects implemented in the field of the environment, a few kilometers away from "Italia" Square, a protest is starting that precisely protects the areas of Sazan and Zvërnec from Jared Kushner's investment project. For the protesters, the issue is not related to the number of national parks or hectares protected on paper, but to the concrete decision to pave the way for private investment in one of the most sensitive areas of the Albanian coast.
In this way, the head of government seems to be trying to respond to the revolt with statistics and government balance sheets, at a moment when public debate is focused not on what has been defended to date, but on what citizens fear may be lost tomorrow.
Lini një Përgjigje