Tourism among the garbage in Golem

In the evening, the Golem beach promenade, from Shkëmbi i Kavaja to Mali i Robi, is full of vacationers.

He hears all languages ​​being spoken, while the Slavic one prevails.

Durrës and Kavaja turned in recent years into one of the best tourism models in the country, after large investments by businesses in the hotel industry, which attracted foreign agencies that bring organized tourists from all over Europe.

This area was one of the first to introduce the concept of "all inclusive", while the prices remain economical, in contrast to the South, making the hotels less likely to "suffer" from the abandonment of vacationers.

The contrast of tourism that "shines" on the coast is great with the interior area, from the hotels to the secondary road.

Almost everywhere you see trash bags piled up on the sidewalk, or on the street corner.

A sight that is not at all pretty for a country that is welcoming millions of tourists a year and is trying at all costs to maintain this source of income for the local economy.

At the beginning of this season, the Municipality of Durrës asked the hotels to manage their garbage themselves, through private companies.

Official sources from the Municipality said that, like all other municipalities, the one of Durres is responsible for collecting only citizens' garbage.

Tourist operators claim that with the task of waste management, the municipality has also removed the trash cans in the area from Shkëmbi i Kavaja to Mali i Robi, while they are being forced to remove the trash at their own expense.

"For the last few months, the Municipality of Durrës has asked us as an accommodation structure to manage the waste. Despite the fact that we pay taxes, the task of waste management has been left to us.

For their management, we have contacted private companies to deal with this service, adding more costs for us during this tourist season", affirms David Hyka, the administrator of Diamma Resort.

Fatos Çerenishti from "Fafa", the largest accommodation facility in the Golem area with about 2,000 beds, claims that after the order of the municipality, they remove the garbage generated by the hotel themselves, through contracted private companies.

He adds that the problem is that there are no bins for citizens and buildings.

Official sources from the Municipality said that the waste disposal sites have remained unchanged and the bins have not only not been reduced, on the contrary, they have been increased.

Bins are located on the street and trash is collected 4-6 times a day.

The municipality is also removing trash wherever it sees it on the corners of sidewalks and streets.

A little further in our observation, we come across an individual who approaches the side of the road and throws two bags in a place near the bus stop, where there is also other waste, and leaves without being disturbed by the tourists passing by.

Exactly in the place where he throws the garbage, there is the announcement of the municipality "It is forbidden to throw garbage, otherwise you will be fined by the municipal police"!

An awareness of the citizens remains necessary to not create places of waste on the streets and sidewalks, but to throw them in the designated places for disposal.

 Sewage, unfinished sidewalks, lack of lighting

Golem's two secondary roads, in addition to taking several years to build, have not yet been fully completed.

The few sidewalks there are, due to the lack of space, are left with gravel. There is no lighting, forcing vacationers to use their phones to see the road.

On the road that leads to the Diamma complex, which in the last few years has invested by building hotels with high standards, you have to close your nose.

Sewage spills onto the street outside the hotel, which is left in a deplorable state.

Tourists are forced to drag their suitcases through black water in the absence of lighting to get to the bus to leave. And this is the worst farewell that can be given to a tourist!/ Monitor