The Bell
The bell! What does
this word mean for this issue of “Shekulli”? It is a bell that tolls
for everyone, but nobody pays enough attention to it. Even those who
are half deaf could notice the effects of this bell. Soon it will
no longer be possible for us to bathe in our beaches because of
pollution. The Durrësi area, in particular, is polluted and the
situation is getting out of hand. With the coming tourist season,
it is important that we focus our attention on the threats faced by
the Durrës Beach. We all know that Elbasan is a polluted city, but
recent research shows that Tirana is the most polluted of all. We
all love Tirana. People from all over Albania are moving closer to
the capital, where its streets are becoming more and more packed
with cars.
 Current
legislation favors the import of old cars that badly pollute the
environment. Everyday thousands of cars emit gas, fumes, and other
substances extremely dangerous to human health. Nearly 90 percent of the
cars driving the streets of this so-called metropolis are nine years
–old and are a major source of pollution, and death. “We currently do
not have a law that bans thousands of cars from operating around Tirana,” says Minister Ruka.
Jola is 18 years old
and a former resident of Vlora. She now lives in 21 Dhjetor in Tirana.
Research has shown that this area suffers the heaviest pollution. She
says that today she not only has to wash her clothes and body twice a
day, but also has to get her lungs checked often.
“Whether one lives in a
hut or in a large house surrounded by great luxury, we all face the
risks of dying from pollution and other environmental problems,“ says
Ethem Ruka, Minister of Environment. However, he adds that people should
understand that the problem does not concern his department alone. “All
should fight the battle for oxygen. Cases of cancer and deadly illnesses
of the respiratory system are prevalent. In the very center of Albania
you can breathe as much dust as you want.”
 However,
none of us feel that dust is a problem. The doctors warn us about its
effect on our health. However, we do not worry because today we feel
pretty good. But tomorrow will soon be here no matter how far it seems
to be right now.
“Ten years later each
of us will feel that the end is coming because the air that we breathe
is over saturated with dust,” says Agron Delia, air expert.
However, the hope that
this situation may start to change still lingers. New environmental
laws have been established and their implementation has already been
approved. The Elbasan Cement Plant, for instance, has stopped emitting
fumes three days ago as a result of pressure from the government, the
local authorities, the residents in the area, and the media. The plant
has interrupted its operations and cleaning filters are being installed.
The environmental
situation still remains critical. Specialists and doctors are tolling
the bell. It is a bell that tolls for me as I write this article. It is
the same bell that tolls for you as you read it.
Blerina Shira
NO COMMENT
“There are
reports about the deformities in animals, but none has said so far
that the sheep eat grass in a polluted area and whether or not it is
advisable that people eat their meat. This question needs an
immediate answer.”
Dr. Ylli Çabiri,
author of the UNDP report on pollution in Elbasan
“I consider
environmental crime as serious as bank robbery.”
Ethem Ruka, Minister
of Environment
“Everybody is
affected, especially children and old people. I think that in a few
years the inhabitants of Tirana will have disastrous problems with their
lungs and the recovery rooms in the hospitals will be crowded.”
Silvana Bala, Doctor
of Medical Sciences for Pneumatic Diseases
Old cars have “contributed” to the capital’s becoming the most
polluted in Europe
Tirana cannot breathe ...
A new law is
needed to control the growing pollution.
Always when talking
of the traffic problems in Tirana the slowness of vehicles that move on
its streets has been the main concern. However, the most serious problem
of today is related to the pollution stemming from the old cars. It is
paradoxical that in Albania the law favors the import of old cars. If
you buy an old car abroad, you pay less customs fee compared to buying
a new one. More than 80 percent of the vehicles moving in Tirana use
petrol, which contributes to air the pollution. The problem remains
even with cars that use gasoline, since they prefer to use leaded
gasoline, which has a direct impact on blood. Experts and doctors
have set the alarm for the degree of pollution and its impact. The
authorities have started to move. The Ministry of Environment and the
Ministry of Transport are drafting a regulation thatwill restrict
pollution from cars.
Each time she has to
pass the crossing at “21 Dhjetori,” Jola Buzo is terrified by the recent
news on the catastrophically polluted air from the cars in this area of
Tirana.
However, Jola, 18, who
crosses this street twice a day to go to school, cannot tell what the
effects of air pollution are on her health. Alas she is not the only
one.
The damage caused to
human health by car emissions is much more serious than one can think.
“An accurate estimation
of the causal relationship between pollution and illness is difficult,
but the hypothesis that pollution makes people more prone to illness is
supported by epidemiological studies,” says Petrit Vasili, Chief of the
Hygiene and Epidemiological Department at the Ministry of Health.
To Agron Deliu, expert
at the Institute of Environmental Studies, air pollution that is,
especially caused by cars is deadly.
“The dust we breathe is
the kind of pollution that is most problematic to our health and studies
have shown that it exceeds the norm and the WHO recommendations up to
eight times,” says Deliu. He notes that in the “21 Dhjetori” area this
reaches up to 483 mg/m3. “The particles of dust that the
lungs absorb shorten the life of inhabitants up to 20-30 percent,” he
stresses.
According to Ethem
Ruka, Minister of Environment, the air quality in Tirana is a very
complex problem. “The main cause of the deterioration of air quality in
the capital is the emissions from transport,” says Ruka.
 The
number of vehicles has increased tremendously from 15,000 during the
1990s to more than 210,000 in the whole country. Out of these, 80,000
are in Tirana alone. If you add to this the fact that many vehicles use
leaded gasoline, which first and foremost seriously threatens the
children, the situation is twice as critical.
“We have no law
forbidding the use of leaded gasoline,” says Bashkim Leskoviku, Head of
the Department of Traffic and Road Safety in the Ministry of Transport.
There is no mention at all of banning the use of leaded gasoline even
in the regulations concerning the allowed emission of cars in the air
that is being drafted by the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of
Transport. The regulation is expected to be ready by the end of the
year. It will classify cars according to year of production: before
1986, after 1986, and yearly in the recent years.
“As soon as this
regulation is in place, we will be able to have a better control of the
car emissions in the atmosphere, which is lacking right now,” says
Mirela Kamberi, Director of the Prevention of Pollution at the Ministry
of Environment. Independent of the willingness to implement, until the
regulation is drafted, the car emissions will continue, and all of us,
rich and poor alike, will breathe the same air.
Until a few days ago
Jola’s main concern, living in “21 Dhjetori” area, one of the most
polluted areas in Tirana, was that she had to wash her clothes and hair
every day. Now she has also started to worry about her health.
“I
come from Vlora. Now my face has changed,” says Jola. But how have her
lungs changed? Only a doctor can answer accurately. And what doctors say
is very alarming. In a few years there are good chances we all will be
suffering from asthma.
Bruna Prifti
Pollution from Traffic
No matter what car
you drive, you contribute to pollution.
Cars with petrol
In Albania, four out of
five cars use petrol. Since cars in Albania are generally old, they
release very tiny microscopic particles called PM10s, which can reach
the lungs and cause cancer, or render breathing difficult and cause
heart disease. If you drive a car with petrol you will have to maintain
it well, otherwise people will become seriously ill.
Cars with gasoline
Although Albanians
prefer not to drive cars powered by gasoline, there are around 40,000
vehicles that use this kind of fuel. The lead that is contained in
gasoline causes ill health.
-
Lead damages people,
especially children.
-
Lead causes
irreversible damage.
-
It increases the risk
of heart disease and causes irritations.
-
It decreases the
level of intelligence, causes brain illness and diminishes
concentration.
If you drive a car with gasoline, use
unleaded gasoline
“I am afraid to let
my children out in the street, even in front of our flat. When I
heard that we breathe 40 kg of dust each year I was horrified.”
A mother in Tirana
“Gasoline produced in
Ballsh is sold here, but the quality is bad. Drivers prefer it though
since it is cheaper than imported gasoline.”
Clerk at a gasoline station, Tirana
“I have been taken
several times to a sanatorium. I have been ill for over ten years now
and often have had health problems anew due to dust.”
A 66-year old from Tirana
“When spring comes, my
car is covered with dust in just two hours.”
Taxi driver in Tirana
“When I get off my
motorbike, I feel as if my mouth is filled with sand.”
Ervin, 20, Tirana
“I suffer from lung disease. The polluted
environment has affected the disease considerably, especially in recent
years.”
A
70-year old
Elbasan, the battle against smoke begins
One of the chimneys
that spread white dust all over the territory of Elbasan for more
than a quarter of a century has interrupted its ritual emission for
almost a week now. The Elbasan Cement Factory, one of the heaviest
polluters in the city, is currently installing cleaning filters, an
enterprise that until a few months ago would seem utopist not only
to the inhabitants of the city and its suburbs, but also to the
Ministry of Environment.
ECF, now owned by a
Libyan businessman, has promised not to release air pollutants that are
harmful to human health. “A device that will decrease the quantity of
pollution from 7 gr/m3 to 15 mg/m3 (a 99%
decrease) is currently being installed in the plant,” says the Chief
inspector of the Agency of Environment for the commune, Shpresa Banja.
In addition to ECF, two
other metal manufacturing companies, “Darfo” and “Kurum,” are among the
most powerful and most dangerous industries in the country. These
factories employ 3,000 persons coming from both the city and the
suburbs. The foreign owners of these factories continue to reap profit
for some years now, without investing in the protection of the
environment and its inhabitants while at the same time also taking
advantage of the lack of legislation. They are however, forced to abide
by the law according to some experts. The government is determined and
is demonstrating political will to solve the environmental issues. “If
there will be no improvements until mid-April, we will initiate extreme
measures against them. We cannot allow profit at the cost of health,”
said the Minister of Environment Ethem Ruka.
 For
the fourth decade now Elbasan continues to be the most industrially
polluted region in spite of the decline in industrial activities in the
country. After 1990, only two out of 13 metal factories are still in
operation and the number of employees has diminished more than three
times.
The women of Elbasan are often stressed over the fact that the clothes that they hang out to
dry tend to turn even worse than before being washed. The air above the
city had a crimson nuance. “As a matter of fact the community is not
completely aware of the dangers from the inherited residues. They only
worry about these three factories, but forget about the millions of tons
of residue that lie in there and constantly endanger the lives of each
of us, as they are spread in the earth, water, and air,” says Ylli
Çabiri, a metallurgical engineer of 18 years and presently Director of
the Center for Promotion of Human Development in Tirana. This center has
assisted in drafting a comprehensive report regarding the
promotion of regional development through the millennium goals. So far
there is no any specific program for the protection of health of
inhabitants in Elbasan. “Unfortunately, the area is not designated as a
hot spot by UNEP, although it ranks among the priorities by the Ministry
of Environment,” says Çabiri.
Efforts to reduce the
actual pollution to permitted levels are being undertaken by the central
and local governments. The country is operating within the permitted
pollution parameters according to EU standards. However, industries that
were established before the law was passed in 2003 are treated
differently. They follow certain temporary norms, which are somewhere
between EU standards and the WHO standards that date back to 1976, which
continued to serve as reference for Albania.
While the government
promises to implement the law within certain deadlines, the residents in
the affected areas continue to feel the effects of pollution. The
incidence of heart diseases and cancer are on the rise. The
physiological and intellectual development of children is impaired. The growth of plants is stunted. The number of genetic deformities in
the area is increasing. There is a serious lack of information and data
on exposures, effects and models that show the linkages between ill
health and environmental pollution, this considerable uncertainty
surrounds may issues of concern.
Although people from
the poorer areas in the Northeast are attracted to life in the city,
they resent the quality of the air, water and land. The inhabitants
are ready “to block the operation of the factories by democratic means,”
as the head of commune of Bardashesh, Sabri Sollaku, puts it. The Chief
Administrator of Elbasan, Qazim Sejdini, claims that that he and his
government have been among the first to raise concern about the
environment, even in front of the community. The Mayor, Adrian Turku,
states the opposite. The different political affiliations and the
contradictions in competencies that stem from the unclear division
between central and local government have rendered the situation rather
confused. However, Elbasan has just sent a signal that legislations will
soon be implemented and violators will be punished.
Olimbi Velaj
Heart and circulatory diseases
| |
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|
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Cancer |
200 |
534 |
|
Respiratory |
87 |
157 |
|
Diseases |
562 |
1659 |
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* Keep in mind that Tirana's population is at least five times higher than that of Elbasan.
STATEMENT
According to Head of
the commune of Bradashesh, the establishment of the metallurgical
factory was a bad experiment undertaken by the Chinese in Albania.
“The building of 13 large plants in one of Albania’s most fertile fields
was a tremendous mistake. The area of approximately 1000 hectares could
have been planted to cucumbers s in quantities that could be sufficient
for the entire country,” says Sollaku in his spacious office, only a few
meters away from the plants. “Before the largest industrial work of
Communist Albania was built in 1976, all these hectares were forcefully
taken away from one of the richest Albanians, landowner Shefqet Verlaci.”
THE DANGER
Bradashesh, where death springs even from the earth
The ground is
polluted to the depths of about 35 centimeters. Such is the land
that surrounds metallurgical factory in Elbasan all the way to
Bradashesh, Peqin, and Rrogozhina, according to the studies of the
German institute “Aechent.” The research terminated four years ago.
According to the responsible person for the laboratory of industrial
toxicology in Elbasan, Beqir Kitaj, the Germans have discovered
nickel in quantities several times higher than the acceptable norm
in the Bradashesh area. “Nickel is a substance that is absorbed in
the human stomach, passes through the intestines and seriously
damages the human digestive system,” says Kitaj. Maybe this is one
of the reasons that explain the high mortality rate in Elbasan that
is a result of cancer, primarily in the digestive organs. According
to a 2002 report on the causes of mortality by the Official
Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) Elbasan ranks first in Albania for
deaths caused by cancer of the digestive and respiratory systems. One of the four doctors in Bradashesh, Arben Stafa, says with
certainty that the rate of diseases is this area is much higher
compared to other areas. “The cases of liver cancer are quite
frequent, as are those of bronchial asthma and allergic bronchitis,
which are closely related to the present and past pollution of
metallurgical factory,” he says.
 In
addition to the pollution of the land, the area has also inherited
polluted air, which hangs over the entire area. One of the inhabitants
in Bradashesh, a blonde woman who years ago abandoned the City of
Lushnja for love’s sake, says that the air over Bradashesh has a
particular smell. It stinks terribly for more than thirty years now. In
a worn-out voice, she states without any hint of surprise, that children
and older people have frequent asthmas and influenzas. “It is all the
metallurgical factory’s fault,” the woman says, casting a look at the
threatening chimneys. If the doctors could not yet state with certainty
the relation between the people’s diseases and the polluted ground, they
are sure that the animals are already affected. The samples of milk and
fat tissues, analyzed a year ago by the Institute of Veterinary Studies,
reveal a percentage of poison that is several times higher than the
norm. “The quantity of lead in the liver is 4-5 times higher than the
norm, whereas the pesticides in the cattle’s milk is 3 times higher than
the norm,” says Beqir Kitaj, a chemist.
Although the figures
are self-explanatory, the government has not yet studied the effects of
the polluted ground on the health of the inhabitants. This fact is
admitted by the Minister of Environment, Ethem Ruka, the Chief
Administrator of Elbasan, Qazim Sejdini, the Mayor, Adrian Turku, etc.
“This is the situation in our institutions. Data is available, but
analysis and interpretation of the data have not been carried out. ,”
Minister Ruka admits. However, last Friday, on March 19, the Ministry
held a meeting with donors, who would support financially the
above-mentioned project. There are still doubts whether the state will
apply any real measures, or whether the study will be left inside the
drawers, as was the fate of the German project.
For many years now the
20,000 residents of the Bradashesh commune inhabit an area that used to
be one of the most fertile fields in Albania. The population, which is
concentrated in an area closest to the then-industrial giant, grows
vegetables, graze cattle, and drink water in an area polluted by
chemicals. After it was destroyed and neglected in 1990, nobody found a
location for the 3.5 million tons of dust deposits and for the 3 million
tons of other solid waste according to an ex-engineer of metallurgical
factory, Ylli Çabiri. A UNDP study was undertaken by Çabiri to examine
the degree of pollution in Elbasan a year ago. He says that the figures
are horrifying and the health of the population that lives and feeds on
this ground is really at risk.
Elda
Spaho
Do not bathe in the Durrësi beach!
The American
Embassy has analyzed the water in the Durrësi beach and found out
that it was saturated in fecal matter. The study was undertaken with
the goal of informing the Embassy staff about the condition of the
beach. The
American Embassy on this matter has released no official report. “We do not have any comment,” says the spokesman at
the American Embassy. Two weeks ago the Director of Pollution
Prevention, Mirela Kamberi, reported for the first time a research
on the seas’ water. This research showed that the water in the
Durrësi beach was filled with fecal matter and high microbiological
charges.
THE GOOD NEWS
Hope for the families of Porto Romano
The government is
taking measures to improve the situation in the critical area of
Porto Romano. Soon the chemicals of Porto Romano, together with 800
tons in the depot in Bisht-Pallë will be secluded in one of the
army’s tunnels. “The municipality has assumed the responsibility of
relocating four families that live in the most dangerous area of
Porto Romano, while the soldiers, wearing anti-gas masks and using
the tools of protection against chemicals, will deal with the
repackaging and the transportation,” says Etleva Canaj,
Vice-Minister at the Ministry of Environment. T here
is linden and natrium bicarbonate in what used to be the Chemical
Plant of Porto-Romano. This is an area 6,5 km away from Durrës, with
an area of 50 hectares and a population of 5,000 inhabitants that
have migrated from the northeastern part of the country.
“We have talked with
the Entity of Households and the four families will be provided with
housing in the city. It was deemed reasonable we should demand their
rehabilitation and maybe even hand them cash in order to buy a home,”
says Lefter Koka, Mayor of Durrës.
“The Ministry of
Environment has received about USD 250,000 from the World Bank in order
to carry out the feasibility study,” says Canaj. She adds that the
possibility for cleaning the whole area, including the total isolation
of the polluted area, is being examined.
For the moment they
have decided to store the waste in a tunnel near Bisht Pallë. Linden is
known to affect on the respiratory organs and the skin, and can cause
liver cancer. Usage of linden is forbidden in Europe.
THE ALERT
The tourist zones drowned in sewerage
While you drive
from Durrës to Golem, the sea starts to disappear. Blocks of flats,
villas, restaurants, and shops are lined up close to the shore.
“It is not a beach any
longer, but a place where you only get stressed out, polluted, and sick.
You cannot relax in the summer any longer, maybe you can use it only
during this period,” says Lirim Selfo, environmental counselor and
ex-chief of the Committee for the Protection of the Environment.
“In two years, the
sewage matter will drown the Bay of Durrës, and this would be fatal to
tourism in the Adriatic Sea,” says one of the constructors of the three
blocks of flats under construction at Mali i Robit.
In the area close to
Durrësi Beach the constructions are mainly illegal and the sewerage has
been degraded. “This zone has ceased being a tourist zone, it has turned
into an urban zone,” says Selfo.
They have invested
millions of dollars, but nobody thought about building a bathroom. “You
can contract cholera there,” says one of the constructors, pointing at a
large hole, full of rainwater and sewage material.
“These septic tanks
have not been isolated with concrete and they are one meter deep. Since
the ground here is watery, the tanks should be 6 or 7 meters deep,” says
Ilir Qesja, Head of the Regional Agency of Environment for the District
of Durrës.
 According
to him, constructions in Golem are taking place in the absence of any
urban plan and engineering research, which are the prerequisites for the
approval of any construction project. “I tried, by asking the local
government to block the flux of constructions, and it was blocked, but
the interests were so big, that they restarted,” says Qesja.
“The entire beach of
Golem has septic tanks because the main sewerage has been blocked, as
two blocks of flats have been built on it. We have to either tear them
down, or deviate the collector,” says Lefter Koka, Mayor of Durrës. He
states that currently there are projects designed to build the streets
along the beach from Durrës to Kavajë. However, the Vice-Minister of
the Regulation of Territory and Tourism, Artan Lame, is not optimistic
about the completion of the project. “This job takes at least four years
to complete, provided that we are able to find the money,” he says.
This problem is not
exclusive problem to Durrës. “There is a lack of urban planning for the
whole of Albania. In our country things are corrected only after the
mistakes are discovered, and no preparatory plans are in place to
present the occurrence of such problems,” says the Director of the
Assessment of the Impact on the Environment, Alma Bako.
There might be a
solution to this problem. The solution lies on the new law on assessing
the impact of various kinds of activities on the environment and on
human health. “The activities that this law monitors include chemical, metallurgical, and mining industries, infrastructure, aqueducts,
sewerage and others,” says Bako, who is quite certain that this law
will improve a lot of things.
But not everyone
agrees. Vice-Minister Lame says,” As a matter of fact this law cannot be
implemented. In many aspects we find ourselves in primitive
circumstances, as was the case with Golem, where this law is a luxury.”
According to him, we still unfortunately find ourselves in the phase of
development where environment and developmentis not integrated.
Meanwhile, Edi Rama,
Mayor of Tirana, seems completely allergic to the progress. “These
viewpoints show the level of emancipation of some people. To me it is
quite the opposite: a qualitative environment promotes sustainable
development,” says Rama.
There are other
positive developments apart from the new law on the assessment of the
impact on the environment. The Inspectorate of Environment has been
established for almost a year now to monitor illegal activities.
Although still a relatively new institution, it has increased penalty
fines several times.
“We have identified
about 3,000 activities, 800 of which do not have the environmental
permits. Of the 800, 20 were suspended, one was shut down, and about 50
have been given fines, ten times more compared to the last year,” says
Chief-Inspector of Environment, Petraq Llambushi.
Compared to last year,
the number of applications for permit tripled and the number of
approvals doubled.
According to Minister
of Environment Ethem Ruka all ministries and private operators must work
together in order to avoid an urban massacre.
They should understand
that crime against the environment is like robbing a bank. We breathe
the same air, we drink the same water, we share the same environment
whether one lives in huts or in luxurious flats,” says Minister Ethem
Ruka.
Denisa Xhoga
see also Photo Gallery
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