FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
A development project has arrived in the protected territory of the Divjakë-Karavasta National Park. The material is titled Kingcoast Divjaka and according to the authors, it "aims to transform this hidden treasure of Europe into a fascinating holiday destination, unrivaled in the region". We are talking not only about a part of the park, but about its entire territory, from Myseqeza Emissary down in the south, to near the Shkumbin Estuary, up in the north.
The project advertises the central area which is under strict protection and envisages extended interventions, which, in circumstances where the protection of national parks is weakened due to the recent proposed legal changes, make its implementation easier.
The provided photos, of a material with about 200 pages, show that the pines will make way for constructions, asphalt roads and artificial vegetation. The landscape of green crowns of Mediterranean pines will alternate with flat platforms, on which grass will be "planted" from seeds cultivated in laboratories. As far as we can see from the material provided, the intervention will be total, not only in volume but also in character.
It is not just about a tourist resort, which will be limited to only a part of the park, but about something even more complex, even bigger, which can also include the urban center of the city of Divjaka.
Few people may have paid attention to a visit by Rama to the municipality of Divjaka last month. Maybe because it wasn't in the explosive style of his dates that the public has been bombarded with for years. The Prime Minister showed interest in the development of tourism and asked for a more integrated development plan for Divjaka, where the government and the Albanian Development Fund (FShZh), business, or other donors could be included; an enterprise which he called: an integrated model that will serve us for other municipalities as well.
This thirst for intervention, as well as the proposal of the project in question, is happening at a time when a dozen deputies of the Albanian Parliament have proposed changing the law "On protected areas". The changes foresee the fall of zoning, which brings about the fall of protection, making the realization of the project easily possible.
For its part, the Ministry of Tourism and Environment is showing the same appetite for intervention within protected areas, although its task is to balance the need for tourism with the preservation of the ecological integrity of the territories. Kumbaro is publicly promoting the construction of the Vlora airport within the Pishë-Poro-Nartë Protected Landscape, while the Berne Convention requires the suspension of the works. Kumbaro repeated the same thing, stubbornly, only two days after this suspension was officially requested to the Albanian government, through its representative in the Council of Europe.
During the propaganda campaign for declaring the Vjosa River a national park, Edi Rama tried to intimidate the representatives of civil society organizations, calling them annoying in their efforts to protect nature. He tried to do the same with international officials, when in one of the public meetings, in a mafia style, he said: respect us, if you want us to respect you!
"This is not a project. This is a destination", - says Cevdet Caner, in the material of 200 pages, presenting the vision on the "Kingcoast Divjaka" project. It is not yet known the extent of the involvement of Cevdet Caner in this project, a tycoon, not a little exposed in the real estate market, who operates within a surreal picture, behind which large stains are hidden. He is an Austrian investor, the scion of a Turkish immigrant family, an important name in wealthy banks and a client of many lawyers. European media describe him as a businessman with unusual dexterity in the real estate stock market; a key consultant for several hundred joint stock companies worldwide. He is the director and main shareholder of "Aggregate Holdings", the strategic weight of whose projects reaches about €10 billion in the sales market (2022). Some time ago, "Viceroy Research", a financial research company published documents and described Cevdet Caner as the secret boss of a kleptocratic clan with influence on the real estate market in Germany. He visited Albania last summer, approximately at the same time when the idea of changing the law on protected areas began to be conceived in the administration offices. The preparation of "Kingcoast Divjaka" was completed after several months and was delivered ready in October: it is not yet known who are the customers here.
Meanwhile, the project has been prepared by "NIU Invest", a newly established German-British company. There is no information about the circumstances under which "NIU Invest" was involved in this enterprise. Down at the base, it is not confirmed that representatives of the company have visited the territory of the park.
Referring to the limited data available, the graphic renderings manage to convey the possible impact, after the implementation of the project in the field. The constructions will be close to the shore, right next to the sand. The landscape will be forever transformed, towards a heavy urban structure. The interiors look luxurious and expensive, which makes us think that they will be sold at high prices. Of course green sells.
Things are expected to become difficult. The government has the experience of "Divjaka Resort Tourist Development", a similar project, proposed by "MABETEX Group" a few years ago, which was canceled before it even started, thanks to the opposition of a relatively large group of environmental activists. But this time, the government will know how to protect the intervention inside the park, and it has already started: without announcing any news about it. From the municipality of Divjaka, in the company of Erjon Braçe, the deputy who is in favor of any project that is envisaged within the national park, the prime minister requested that Divjaka serve as a model for other municipalities. In this context, the project is not offered as an isolated proposal, easily criticized, for the interests of a group of local or foreign shareholders, as happened before. On the contrary, it is advertised as a salvation for the future and is propagated as an extraordinary development mechanism that aims to restore not only hopes, but also Albanians who have left. "The return of the Albanians" is the main motive that was taken by the Parliament of Albania to justify the changes in the law of protected areas.
Indeed, the distinction between who is pro-nature and who is against it is becoming difficult. Green words and rhetoric have taken over the Rama government's public communication. The current situation has been made even greener by another propaganda campaign: 2024: Year of Forests. The so-called volunteer forces, behind which the ordered militants gather, have turned the annual global environmental calendar into part of the green brainwashing orchestrated by the socialist party structures.
Arben Pëllumbi, the chairman of the Committee of Production Activities, Trade and Environment, in the Parliament of Albania, is concluding the discussion of the amendments to the law on protected areas, just a few hours before they will be voted on in the plenary session. In the conditions when the opposition is absent in the Assembly, the changes are expected to be approved with the majority of votes of a party.
The next day, projects such as "Kingcoast Divjaka" will be numerous in Albania. But hopes for the return of people will remain slim. It must be understood that projects aiming at major transformations, especially within the national parks, inevitably bring two consequences: the destruction of the parks and the prosperity of very few individuals, whose assets and lives are consumed thousands of kilometers away from the catastrophe that these transformations caused./Citizens- channel
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