Sewage treatment plants/Zhupa: The government is "massacring" tourist businesses with fines

2024-07-17 10:35:00, Politikë CNA

Sewage treatment plants/Zhupa: The government is "massacring" tourist

Ina Zhupa, DP deputy

Democratic deputy, Ina Zhupa, in a statement to the media, stated that DP joins tourism associations to ask the government to waive fines for an illegal act, related to sewage treatment plants.

Zhupa underlined that the government is "massacring" tourist businesses with fines in an abusive manner.

"We ask the two ministers, Balluku and Kumbaro, that their Task Force should classify well who are the subjects for which this normative act should act and then act. They should change their instruction that they have done with the aim of favoring those who sell plants and not treat wastewater", said Zhupa.

Full statement:

The government, while doing great propaganda with tourism, is slaughtering tourist businesses with fines in an abusive manner.

It is unprecedented how businesses in the field of hotels, that develop activity by the sea, rivers or lakes, that have a regular contractual relationship with Water and Sewerage for waste water, are saturated with fines from a Task Force.

With the normative act no. 8, 28-12-2023 for the management of polluted waters, a Task Force was set up by the ministers of Balluku-Kumbaro, which on paper has a positive goal for the management of polluted waters, while in practice it fines businesses that do not pollute and have sewers in the waste water and regular contracts with the UK.

This Task Force does not see that they throw this polluted water into the water sources, but it sees if they have bought the plant that the state has set up, which costs from 20-100 thousand euros depending on the size.

Businesses are fined from 15 million to 30 million ALL and these fines are imposed as executive titles that can only be complained about in court. Failure to purchase the plants required by the government and predetermined by the government leads to the loss of the activity license. The fines of tourist businesses that have regular contracts with the state and legal methods of treating polluted water are extortion, they are illegal.

These fines are imposed on the basis of an instruction No. 1, dated 01/02/2024, which no longer recognizes the difference between businesses that treat waste water and those that treat it, but forces them all to install these plants.

The Democratic Party joins the call of the tourism associations to request the waiver of the fines of an illegal act on entities that are connected to the main collector of the UK and have a regular contract with the UK.

We ask the two ministers, Balluku and Kumbaro, that their Task Force should properly classify who are the subjects for which this normative act should act and then act. They should change their guidance which they have made with the aim of favoring those who sell plants and not treat waste water.

We support any action to protect the environment, but we strongly oppose these fines to the honest business that does not pollute, but is hit to fill the state coffers and the pockets of customers destined for plants./ CNA