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Tirana Court Cancels Construction of 4 Hydropower Plants on Shushica River

Politiko 2024-12-11 20:04:57

Tirana Court Cancels Construction of 4 Hydropower Plants on Shushica River

The Tirana First Instance Administrative Court decided on Wednesday to repeal administrative acts regarding the planning of the construction of four hydroelectric power plants on the "Shushica" river, a tributary of the Vjosa river, declared a National Park in March 2023. The decision came after a lawsuit by 28 residents of the village of Brataj in Vlora and two environmental associations, "EcoAlbania" and "Impetus", who opposed the construction of the hydroelectric power plants.

According to the lawsuit, the residents opposed the Environmental Impact Assessment conducted by the National Environment Agency, and the contract and environmental permit for the HPP construction project, approved by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy, for the benefit of the company "Shushica Hydropower".

The hydroelectric power plant project envisaged the use of the waters of the Shushica River for 35 years for energy production. In its decision, the court found the plaintiffs, the community of residents and the two organizations, legitimate and decided to annul the acts that paved the way for the construction of the 4 hydroelectric power plants, while representatives of the institutions have not stated whether they will appeal the decision.

"After almost 3 years, our work and dedication as a campaign team for the protection of Vjosa and lawyers, in the ongoing effort to protect Vjosa and its branches from destructive projects, was rewarded," said Besjana Guri, representative of "EcoAlbania".

"We believe that the authorities will reflect on this decision, which comes at a time when Vjosa has been declared a National Park, and will not appeal it," she added.

The organization "EcoAlbania" said in a statement that this is an important victory for Shushica and Vjosa, but also for Albanian jurisprudence. According to "EcoAlbania", the decision from the point of view of judicial practice is a qualitative step forward because it paves the way for the possibility that an administrative contract can be judicially challenged by the public, without being a contracting party.

Meanwhile, another lawsuit regarding the exploitation of the Shushica River to the detriment of the residents of the area is being reviewed at the Administrative Court of First Instance in Lushnja. The community of residents and environmental organizations oppose the Himara water supply project, which envisages the diversion of the main source of the Shushica River to supply this municipality.

The Bern Convention Committee, a few days ago, at its annual meeting in Strasbourg, welcomed the Albanian government "for suspending work on the water supply project in the municipality of Himara, following the instructions provided by the expert of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), and for involving local communities in discussions and decision-making processes."/ VOA

 

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