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Residents of Zëmblak in protest / 7 years without drinking water, demand urgent solutions

2025-09-08 13:45:00, Denoncim CNA

Residents of Zëmblak in protest / 7 years without drinking water, demand

Residents of the village of Zëmblak in the Municipality of Maliq have risen in protest today, demanding a solution to the lack of drinking water. They say that for more than 7-8 years they have been living with a minimal supply, only for a few minutes a day, which has faced great difficulties in their daily lives. The protesters say they are tired of repeated promises, while warning that if concrete measures are not taken within two weeks, they will take the situation into their own hands.

"There is a lot of problem with water. In the morning I can have water for half an hour, and in the evening 10 minutes. I come from work all mud, all smoke, I have no water. This morning I shaved with a can. This problem has been going on for 7-8 years or more. We have been looking for it but no one has turned on the water. We will tell you once and for all, if they do not do anything in two weeks, we will get together again and we will solve it privately for each family and the government will no longer have anything to do with us", said the resident.

Another resident indicates that the water supply is not sufficient for any basic needs.

"We gathered about the village's water problem. We don't have water, it comes on schedule, 1 hour in the morning, 1 hour in the evening and we are left without water all day. Someone has a deposit, someone collects it in the morning. It only comes from the water supply depot for 1 hour. They promised us that they would come and they are not coming. We are connected to the Municipality of Maliq, but they have transferred us to the water supply of Korça", said the resident.

The village's elders say they are abandoned.

"The main problem is water. They have been lying to us for 6 years. There are about 400 houses in the village. We are only old people left here and who cares? We take barrels with donkey carts and fill them in the Devoll River so we can wash. To drink, we went to fill them in Cangonj. It takes us about an hour to get water to drink all the way to Cangonj."

"The problem is water in our village, it has been requested for years, we were promised even before the electoral campaign that the water supply of Zëmblak would be completed within 2 months. It has only remained on paper, promises, promises and nothing. We are elderly and we need water. We don't even have water to wash our eyes. It comes for one hour a day, how can the needs of these people be met with 1 hour of water."

Following the protest in Zëmblak, where residents of this village have highlighted the lack of drinking water, the mayor of Maliq Municipality, Gëzim Topçiu, has reacted, stressing that the Zëmblak water supply is in the tendering procedure and its construction is expected to begin soon. While management will be carried out by the Korça Water Supply and Sewerage Company.

"The problem of the water supply of Zëmblak is complex for several reasons. We intervened as a municipality two years ago, building two new lines. Currently, there is a decline in resources everywhere, but this does not mean that the residents do not have a right. Right now, as we speak, we are in the procurement procedure from the water supply company in Korça, which manages all the water supplies of our municipality and at the regional level. From the information we have, they are in the tendering phase of a well, a pumping station, the main lines, but the problem is complex. There are many double lines within the village, water is taken from a group of residents in the upper lines and the water supply of Korça will intervene very quickly to resolve this situation. I believe that within this year we will have 24-hour water in the village of Zëmblak as well," said Topçiu.

While residents say their patience has run out and they will not stop without a tangible solution, the municipality assures that the tender launched will bring a stable supply within a year. Until then, for the village of about 400 houses, drinking water remains a daily luxury, and repeated promises, as they themselves say, are the only things they do not lack. /CNA