Democratic Party chairman Lulzim Basha kicked off Thursday’s daily press conference with an attack against Top Channel television over the issue of incinerators.
“I am glad to see a Top Channel journalist [in the audience]. You will have the opportunity to broadcast a part of the press conference that has nothing to do with incinerators, because we know you do not broadcast things to do with incinerators. But this is not your fault Elda [the journalist’s name], we know whose it is,” Basha said.
The journalist was present at the press conference held at the PD headquarters.
Basha said that “only yesterday, EUR 565,000 were given to the garbage mafia by the treasury. This amount of money is equal to 14,000 COVID-19 tests .”
He called this “state terrorism, to continue stealing money” while the entire region of Durres received only 15 COVID-19 tests the day before.
Basha accused Prime Minister Edi Rama of letting people die on the sidewalks. This was in reference to a man who allegedly died after not receiving treatment at hospital in Tirana.
The issue of the incinerators relates to three government contracts given to private companies to build and operate waste incinerators. The problem is that the contracts favour the operator as they receive money from the state each day the incinerators are not burning waste, even prior to being built. Several years later, one is half operational and the others are not constructed yet they are still receiving money from the state.
