Fieri's 'incinerator' turns into an ecological bomb

In a television interview in May 2023, after having secured a deep victory in the local elections, Prime Minister Edi Rama dismissed as irrelevant the concerns raised about the construction of waste incinerators, stressing that the fact that they incinerate or not is not a 'history' very trite said and oversaid.'

"They were areas forced to coexist with cancer centers and today they manage and process the waste with the highest standards," declared Rama to journalist Erla Mëhilli on Euronews Albania television.

"They are three very important works and I am very proud that we have done them," declared Rama, while adding that "those works have saved entire populations from poison and the consequences of poisons in the lungs and their health and that of children."

But not everyone agrees with the prime minister's bogus statements. Residents of the village of Vërri, where the Fieri incinerator was built, see the controversial waste treatment plant as the main threat to their health.

"The smell is unbearable," said Përparim Merkaj, as he pointed to the landfill site of the incinerator overflowing with garbage. "The mountain has gone 30 meters there, they don't even intend to put it to work," he added.

Merkaj explained that because the incinerator is not working, it is being used as a landfill where waste is thrown and covered with scrap. "It's not an incinerator, it's a garbage collection pit," he emphasized.

Data collected by BIRN through the right to information law show that the incinerator landfill is filling up fast. However, the concern for residents and environmental experts is not only the incineration but also the lack of treatment of polluted water which is a concern.

The municipality of Fier, however, insisted that the situation was not an emergency and that the solution would come with fixing the incinerator and putting it into operation.

"We haven't thought of any solution because we are still half of the occupied capacity in the landfill and we believe that we will not reach the critical point as the issue will be closed quickly and the incinerator will be put into operation", said Fatjon Elezi, director of the Fier Cleaning Company.

Meanwhile, the deputy mayor of Lushnja municipality, Elton Korreshi, told BIRN that he was happy that the waste was no longer deposited in the territory administered by him.

"We, in the municipality of Lushnja, have not received any alarm signal from the municipality of Fier, which manages the landfill," he said. "For us, the problem of waste has been solved by sending it to the landfill because Lushnja had a waste field that was like a black spot for the environment and the health of the residents", Korreshi added.

The mountain of remains

Afera e inceneratorëve, në Tiranë, Fier dhe Elbasan, u ka kushtuar deri më sot taksapaguesve shqiptarë rreth 150 milionë euro, ndërsa një numër i lartë zyrtarësh publikë janë nën akuzë ose janë shpallur fajtorë për veprat penale të korrupsionit, shpërdorimit të detyrës dhe pastrimit të produkteve të veprës penale.

Mes të dënuarve janë ish-ministri i Mjedisit, Lefter Koka, ish-deputeti socialist, Alqi Bllako si dhe tre administratorët e kompanive të inceneratorëve, Mirel Mërtiri, Klodian Zoto dhe Stela Gugallja, ndërsa ish.zv.kryeministri Arben Ahmetaj ndodhet në arrati.

Banorët e fshatit Verri në Fier po përjetojnë atë që kishin frikë kur protestuan disa vite më parë kundër ndërtimit të inceneratorit në tokat e fshatit të tyre. Zona rreth inceneratorit është kthyer prej kohësh në një landfill për mbetjet e gjithë qarkut të Fierit, ndërsa impianti incenerimit që kushtoi dhjetëra miliona euro nuk është vënë në punë.

“Ne kemi qenë në protestë, na proceduan, na shoqëruan po doli që kishim të drejtë”, kujtoi Përparim Merkaj, i cili ishte një prej banorëve që iu bashkuan protestave kundër ndërtimit të inceneratorit në këtë zonë.

Landfilli është i vendosur në mes të fushave të këtij fshati dhe në pak vite ai kthye në një mal mbetjesh lehtësisht i dallueshëm nga fotografitë satelitore të publikuara nga aplikacioni ‘Google Earth'.

Inceneratori i Fierit dhe kompania koncesionare “Integrated Technology Waste Treatment Fier” u sekuestruan me urdhër të SPAK në mars të vitit 2022 dhe administrohen nga Agjencia e Administrimit të Pasurive të Konfiskuara dhe Sekuestruara, AAPKS.

Inceneratori që i kushtoi 28 milion euro taksapaguesve dhe duhej të ishte vënë në punë në vitin 2021, por nuk është akoma në gjendje pune. Ndërkohë, prej janarit 2022 funksionon si landfill për bashkitë e qarkut Fier.

Në përgjigje të një kërkese për informacion, Agjencia e Administrimit të Pasurive të Konfiskuara dhe Sekuestruara i tha BIRN se për periudhën që kjo e fundit administroi depozitimin e mbetjeve në landfill aty u depozituan rreth 82 mijë ton mbetje të ndryshme.

“Në këtë landfill depozitoheshin afërsisht 113 ton mbetje në ditë”, tha AAPKS, në një përgjigje me shkrim.

Nga janari 2024, përmes një kontrate qiraje AAPKS ia kaloi administrimin e zonës së peshores në hyrje të projektit dhe landfillin bashkive të qarkut Fier, ndërsa vetë administron objektin që duhej të ishte djegës, por që aktualisht është jashtë funksionit.

Ndërkohë punonjës të landfillit dhe banorë të zonës rreth tij, panë me shqetësim se si projekti që ishte planifikuar të “shpëtonte” Fierin nga mbeturinat u kthye në një mal mbetjesh.

Punëtorë të landfillit i thanë BIRN se zona e paracaktuar për të mbajtur mbetjet në mënyrë të përkohshme, ndërsa i nënshtroheshin riciklimit dhe djegies, është tashmë e mbushur.

"The two small pits are empty because they are for recycling when the incinerator is put into operation, one is with water and there is room for another year according to what I see," said the employee, who asked to remain anonymous.

Meanwhile, the large amount of waste is visible to the naked eye in the village and residents complain about the heavy smell of waste they have to live with.

"The wind is coming, we are 500 meters away, the wind can be felt", said a resident in the village cafe, who left the conversation in the middle, after a fellow villager warned him that the journalists would cause trouble.

Wastewater is used for irrigation

The drone footage shows that a large pile of waste has been created in the territory of the "incinerator" of Fier, where traces of the tools that carry out the process of compacting them are visible. According to the incinerator project, this pile of waste is the result of the merger of two landfills, but due to the overloading, their dividing borders are no longer visible.

In addition to the mountain of waste, two large pits filled with black water, known by environmental experts as leachate - polluted and untreated water that is created by the decomposition process of urban waste, are clearly visible. According to environmental experts, leachate is dangerous waste, as it has a high concentration of nitrogen, toxins and a high presence of heavy metals.

Nuredin Kallashi, doctor and former director of the Directorate of Public Health in Fier, said that the leachate was a potential source of infection and a threat to the health of the residents of the area.

"The degree and risk of these sources of infection must be measured, but in such large pits with such amounts of waste, it is certain that the risk is also high," he said.

These waters were supposed to be processed in the incinerator wastewater plant, but when asked if this plant was working, the municipality of Fier and the AAPSK threw the ball at each other.

The director of Fier municipality, Fatjon Elezi, said that the water plant was under the administration of AAPSK

"I don't know if the water filtration plant is working, but I know that those waters are used for irrigation," Elezi told BIRN.

Meanwhile, an AAPSK official, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak, told BIRN that the agency had neither the tax nor the ability to operate plants.

"The agency manages the seized properties but has no funds to put the plants into operation", he said, implying that the polluted water was not treated. Reporter.al