The Government of Kosovo has found numerous violations in the issuance of construction permits for hydropower plants and in their operation.
According to Deputy Minister of Environment, Linda Çavdarbasha, quoted by Radio Free Europe speaking on Thursday at the “European Green Agreement” conference, the violations were investigated by an inter-ministerial commission and summarized in a report.
Çavdarbasha claims that the government has included residents of the areas where the hydropower plants have been built, various operators, and non-governmental organizations in the investigation.
“It is quite a voluminous report and includes all hydropower plants in Kosovo. So we have seen a lot of violations. The violations are from the administrative aspect. There are violations in water acts, in environmental acts, violations on the part of the inspectorate, which has not had sufficient field visits. We have seen violations of transparency and many, many other violations, for which a decision must be made,” said Çavdarbasha.
The report has been submitted to the Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, Liburn Aliu, and is still under review. Environmental activists have demanded that those responsible for the abuses be punished.
Earlier, in addition to violations reported by activists, the ombudsman’s office in Kosovo published a similar report, finding shortcomings in the implementation of procedures, transparency, public participation, or access to justice.
