"New year, old ice"/ Ina Zhupa: The new draft law, the first blow of January

2024-01-02 17:39:00, Politikë CNA

Ina Zhupa

The deputy of the Democratic Party, Ina Zhupa, has reacted regarding the newest draft law that is expected to be defeated by the government at the beginning of January.

She says that protected areas are being stripped of their protection with the draft law that is expected to be passed in January by the majority, and Rama boasts that Albania is part of the union for the protection of nature.

According to Zhupa, the draft law in the assembly is expected to be the first blow of January with the opening of the new parliamentary session.

Ina Zhupa's full response:

New year, old ice! Protected areas are being stripped of their protection with the draft law that is expected to be passed in January by the majority and Rama boasts that Albania is part of the union for the protection of nature. How ironic!

Today in the media, Prime Minister Rama shares the news that Albania is part of the union for the protection of nature and meanwhile a draft law has been introduced in the parliament by the majority deputies, to turn protected areas into unprotected areas, where economic activities can be built and carried out. . Typical of the expression "others do, others say", where propaganda and reality are far apart.

The draft law in the assembly is expected to be the first blow of January with the opening of the new parliamentary session, where the mediocre discussions in the online commissions have not managed to hide the reality of a draft law that is made for the purpose of benefiting power clients and destroying protected areas. With these changes, they will offer the richest and most powerful, even the last pieces of Albanian territory, precisely the protected areas, for them to use for resorts and new profits.

What has saved the protected areas from the greed of the government and the oligarchs has been precisely the prohibition to exercise economic or construction activity, and this is precisely what they will turn into a permit with the new draft law. In the accompanying report, it is stated that the current law drafted in 2017 has created problems as it is "a strict protective law" for 21.5% of the entire territory. So protection must be removed, protected areas!!!

One of the signatories (the real proponent is Rama) Fadil Nasufi has expressed in the commission that "Albania does not have the luxury of shrinking its development to 21% of the territory by conceiving Protected Areas as isolated islands". With this, the destructive intent is clearly understood.

I consider the bill as a massacre against protected areas and will use every parliamentary, legal and judicial instrument to oppose it. I once again call on the signatories to withdraw from putting their face in a destructive project for the country./ CNA