The inhabitants of the village Zharrza, near the oil field of Patos–Marinëz, may restart their protests to demand compensation for their damaged houses.
In a report of ABC News, the inhabitants state that the government still hasn’t compensated the damage caused to 250 houses because of the earthquakes caused by fracking activities of Bankers Petroleum in the oil field.
The inhabitants of Zharrza started their protests in December 2016 with a hunger strike, which culminated in a march on foot to Tirana to demand their rights. Although the police prohibited them from setting up a tent in front of the Ministry of Energy, they stayed in front of the ministry until talks with Deputy Prime Minister Niko Peleshi led to the establishment of a working group that would assess the damage to the houses, which was confirmed by a Decision of the Council of Ministers (VKM) on March 1, 2017.
According to the VKM, the working group would decide within 30 days on a final list of families whose buildings got damaged, as well as an assessment of the value of the damage. A 100% compensation for the damage would be paid by the state and Bankers.
But six months after the deadline determined in the VKM, none of the families from Zharrza have received any compensation. They have sent a letter to Prime Minister Edi Rama requesting that the deadline of VKM be respected. If they don’t receive an answer, they state in the report, they will restart their protests.
