Residents of the administrative unit of Martanesh in Bulqiza protested on Sunday against the works to divert the waters of Lake Sope, which are being carried out by the company “Teodori 2003”. They warned that around 1,500 hectares of agricultural land in four villages in the area risk being left without irrigation water, while several HPPs that use the current flow will also be left without water supply.
Protesters compared the diversion of water to severing the body's vital arteries.
"This is about a body whose blood vessels have been cut. Without water there is no life, no production, no future," said Petrit Osmani, a resident of the area, adding that the protests will continue until the project is stopped.
Another resident, Zybër Plòçi, who has worked in the forests for decades, described the situation as catastrophic: "Water is life. What is happening here exceeds any scale of disaster. The government knows very well about this problem, but has not taken any measures," he said.
The project they oppose envisages the construction of an underground tunnel to divert the waters of Lake Sope towards the Black Lake of Valikardha, to be used by the hydroelectric power plant owned by the company “Teodori 2003.” The company did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
This is not the first reaction of the residents of Martanesh against the intervention in Lake Sope. In 2015, they protested again to oppose the diversion of waters towards the Black Drin. Even then, the main argument was that the lake is a vital source of drinking and irrigation water for four villages in the area, and that any change in the natural flow would bring serious ecological and social consequences.
The protests of the residents of rural areas against the taking and use of water resources, with which they have linked their lives, without being heard, have continued for over two decades. The protests are currently taking place in Kurdari, Dibër County, in the Mirdita area, in Tragjas and Kuç in Vlora and other areas.
Meanwhile, representatives of the BASHKË Movement also participated in Sunday's protest, including MP Redi Muçi and Mayor Arlind Qori. They expressed support for the residents' cause, describing the lake water diversion project as an "environmental crime" that risks leaving four villages without irrigation. The Movement's representatives, noting that residents in several areas of the country were in a similar situation, called on citizens to continue the protests all the way to Tirana, in front of the Prime Minister's Office, in order to - as they said - "put an end to the plunder of natural resources by oligarchs with the government's blessing."
Residents complain that, as in projects of this nature, legislation is not being implemented. Muharrem Rova, who raised this concern, pointed out that water belonging to the Mat River watershed was being transferred to the Drin. “There are national and international laws for these basins. An entire natural system cannot be destroyed just for private interest,” said Rova.
Other residents warned of irreparable environmental and social consequences. “They have turned it from a field of flowers into a field of ravines,” said Dilaver Koxherri, calling on central and local authorities to intervene immediately./Reporter.al
