The Administrative Court of Tirana has ruled against the construction of hydropower plants in the Municipality of Mat.
The news was announced by the residents of the Zall-Gjocaj National Park via Facebook. They stated that the court abolished Decision No. 146 date 10.09.2020 which licensed Seka Hydropower Shpk to build a power plant with a 2295 KW capacity.
Residents of the area have been protesting against the proposed construction of two plants at Seke and Zais. It’s not yet known whether the company, Seka Hydropower, will appeal the decision.
Those who live in the area claim that the plant will negatively impact their water supply which is integral to their livelihood and it will damage the locality.
In 2018, Prime Minister Edi Rama issued permits for the construction of two plants. They are two out of the 100 that Rama has issued in the last five years.
Rama said in July 2020 that he would no longer issue permits for small HPPs as they are “useless and harmful” but nothing was done about those that had already been issued, most of which are in protected areas.
An investigation by journalist Artan Rama revealed that the government has approved a total of 714 concession contracts for hydropower plants, but has only publicly announced only half of them. Concession contracts are issued before HPP construction permits are issued.
