TIRANA, April 23 – In the context of Albania’s wide-spread pollution problem, the country’s Ministry for Tourism and Environment launched a week-long national operation titled Let’s Clean the Land we Love.
The lack of a proper landfill to throw away trash and industrial waste continues to be one of the country’s most major problems damaging both nature and the up-and-coming tourism sector. Urban waste often ends up in inappropriate places, such as river banks, from where it eventually reaches the sea.
Almost the entirety of the country’s 400 km coastline is polluted, becoming one of the main reasons for launching the operation as tourist season is fast approaching.
Representatives of the environmental organization Eco-Mind (Eco-Mendja) said the difference between the shared Albanian-Montenegrin coastline of Velipoja and Ulqin is the urban waste covering the Albanian coast at the official beginning of summer.
“This is one of the nicest Northern spots, the quite popular Velipoja beach, but right next to it is the Montenegro beach, which is the most popular beach in the Balkans. A part of our waste is also a hazard to that beach, so we should try to take care of this beach and develop this area as much as possible,” Mirsad Basha, an Eco-Mind representative told local media.
He added that not only individuals, but also businesses and activists should increase efforts to reduce pollution in the area.
The ministry’s operation will include local administration workers, students and military force operatives, who will be cleaning tourist hot-spots throughout the country.
Last month’s floods in Shkodra and the surrounding lowlands brought a new wave of waste — in particular, plastic waste that has now ended up in the sea.
“In addition to the visual impact, which is very negative when it comes to tourism development and foreigners’ impression of the country, there is also an impact on protected cultural and historic areas, which after the floods have been washed over by waste,” Tonin Macaj, from the National Agency of Protected Areas, told the Voice of America.
Shkodra Municipality representatives said that 88 percent of the area’s surface is currently cleaned by private companies.
After the approval of the new local plan for urban waste management private companies will be fully responsible for cleaning urban waste.
However, local citizens often complain about overflooded trash bins in their neighborhoods, while adding the Shkodra Lake, and the Drin, Bun and Kir Rivers have been turned into landfills without authorization, pushing municipalities to take urgent measures.
“Cleaning is one of the hardest services to offer, because it cannot be simply managed by the municipality and its administration, it also has to come from citizens’ awareness,” an activist said.
The environmental ministers of Albania, Montenegro and Croatia met in Dubrovnik two months ago with the aim of coming up with a waste management plan that will lower coastal pollution in the Mediterranean area.
Deputy Minister for Tourism and Environment Ornela Cuci was present during the launch of the operation in Shkodra, where she said saving the coast is essential to avoid only fishing for plastic within ten years.
“On April 24 I will be part of the Albanian delegation that will present a very clear structure on what needs to be done in the context of this important project that is addressed to the European Union, as this is not just an Albanian problem, and we will be able to solve this issue once and for all,” Cuci said.
On the other hand, she added that a number of other small projects financed by the United Nations and other international organizations will be launched parallel to the bigger, inter-state one, aiming to also save the region’s polluted coasts.
