The Vlora landfill project stalls, garbage remains on the streets

Urban waste in Vlora continues to accumulate on the outskirts of the city in a landfill outside management standards, which has long been overflowing and occasionally bursts into flames.

"Waste storage in the current collection area has become dangerous due to the accumulation of methane gas and fires, which are also provoked by high temperatures ," says Edmond Leka, director of the Public Services Enterprise at the Municipality of Vlora.

The municipality of Vlora expected to solve the issue of waste treatment with the new Sherishta landfill as early as June 2021, but the deadline has been postponed several times and the works have remained at a standstill since January of this year.

The Sherishta landfill is just one of the acts of the saga of incinerators in Albania.

Its construction is part of an integrated project for waste management in the Vlora region worth 20.8 million euros financed by KfW, of which 12.5 million euros are loans and the rest are grants.

In June 2020, Integrated Technology Services, in collaboration with the Italian company Bulfaro Spa, was announced as the winner of a tender of 9.8 million euros for the construction of the landfill with a capacity of 350 thousand tons of waste.

From December 14, 2021, the company Integrated Technology Services is under preventive seizure by order of the Special Court Against Corruption and Organized Crime.

Its sole shareholder, Klodian Zoto, has been declared internationally wanted by the State Police, accused of money laundering and corruption. In two separate cases, for the incinerators in Fier and Elbasan, SPAK has requested a total of about 15 years in prison for Zoto.

After the seizure, the company was appointed as public administrator Farudin Arapi, and in May 2022 BIRN found that work at the site had continued despite the company's legal problems.

But Arjona Bojaxhi, the director of the Regional Waste Management Center near the Municipality of Vlora, told BIRN that the work stopped in January of this year and that they do not have a deadline for its completion and putting the landfill into operation.

Bojaxhi, e cila një vit më parë ishte optimiste që projekti do të përfundonte, i tha BIRN së fundmi se nuk kishte më qartësi.

“Jemi në pritje dhe jemi shumë të shqetësuar sa i takon përfundimit të projektit,” tha ajo.

Bojaxhi shpjegoi se zyrtarisht nuk ka ende një datë të dorëzimit të veprës  bashkisë së Vlorës dhe për pasoje askush nuk mund të parashikojë se kur kjo do të ndodhë.

“Ndërtimi i landfilldit ka përfunduar, por impiantet pjesë e tij nuk janë lidhur me njëri- tjetrin dhe nuk janë në funksion. Po ashtu nuk janë bërë as lidhjet elektrike dhe arredimet e zyrave,” tha Bojaxhi.

Projektit i mungojnë gjithashtu peshoret në hyrje të kantierit. Bojaxhi thotë se nëse këto vendoset në landfill, mund të “kishte nisur të paktën grumbullimi”.

Edmond Leka, the director of the Public Services Company at the Municipality of Vlora, told BIRN that they had received a commitment from Farudin Arapi, the public administrator of the company, that at least the scales would be in place by the end of June. But Leka said she didn't know if that would happen.

"A few days ago, in a joint meeting of the municipality of Vlora with the German Development Bank and the state administrator of the landfill, we managed to negotiate the completion of the scale and the landfill by the end of the month, to at least avoid the deposit of waste in the current area of waste, " said Leka.

Contacted by e-mail and phone, Arapi did not respond to BIRN's questions about the project's work and completion date by the time of publication of this article. Reporter.al