Protest: “ Say No to turning Albania into Europe’s garbage bin!”

A week ago, when the daily “Business” published the text of a project deal between the Albanian Government and the Italian company “Albanianbeg”, for the construction of an establishment for garbage recycling for Tirana and Durres, the Albanian Center for Human Rights, ACHR, showed its skepticism on some points of this operation. Especially on one clause of the deal that was about the imports of trash from Italia, and on the methods used for the recycling process (through burning them).

ACHR was the initiator for the creation of the net “For Democracy and Human Rights”, which was latter included in the group of Citizen Reaction demanding from the government complete transparency and participation of the civil society in the process. The main issue is that the Albanian law for the prevention of garbage importation with the purpose of being deposited, eliminated and preserved should not be violated.

ACHR in complete accordance with the Albanian Youth Council, the Office of the Citizens Protection, the Mjaft Movement, the “Mass Media and Environment” organization, the “Eco movement” group, the Albanian Coalition against corruption, and many other non governmental organizations and experts of this field, has been active for the development of a citizen’s protest strategy and the public opinion awareness in the country and abroad for this ecological catastrophe that is being prepared. Against the submission to such governmental acts that are threatening the health of the citizens and the environment, turning the country into Europe’s trash bin. In the meetings that the group has developed for the Citizen Reaction, as well as in the interviews given for the national and foreign media, it has been demanded to the government and Prime minister Fatos Nano not to sign the deal with “Albanianbeg”, refusing categorically the import of trash from Italy or other countries, as well as analyzing in details the technological parameters and the effects that will be caused in the surrounding areas from the construction of the Kashari’s establishment.

ACHR has asked that for every taken step should be taken into account the opinion of experts and the specialists of environmental issues that know very well the process of recycling of the urban trash, as well as the opinion of communities.

After the daily meetings between nongovernmental organizations that take part in the Group for Citizen Reaction, after the visit at the area of Kashar and the press conferences, the first protests in the public was decided to take place on Tuesday, at 12 o’clock in front of the building of the Prime Minister in Tirana. Thousands citizens of Tirana, rural area of Kashar where the establishment is going to be build, as well as citizens from all over the country are invited to take part in this protest