FLASH
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The Prosecutor's Office of Durres landed on Monday near the offices of the Kurum company in Elbasan and seized documentation believed to be related to the issue of hundreds of tons of suspected hazardous waste that were exported from the port of Durres to Thailand.
Asked by BIRN, the head of the Durrës Prosecutor's Office, Suela Beluli, said: "we have received all the documentation that we think is related to the case".
The suspected export of hazardous waste from Albania was denounced on August 5 by the Basel Action Network, an environmental organization based in the United States. BAN raised the alarm that a giant container ship of 175 thousand tons of the 'Maersk' line disappeared at the end of July from the radars near Cape Toën in South Africa, after a signal made by it to the local authorities.
Based on information provided by a whistleblower, Basel Action Network, BAN, believes that the ship 'Maersk Campton' and a second container ship of the same line, 'Maersk Candor', loaded at the port of Durrës at the beginning of July about 100 containers of hazardous waste, which comes from the ash of electric metallurgical chimneys (EAFD) destined for Thailand.
Based on the notification of BAN, the port authority has blocked the containers from Albania in Singapore and they are expected to return to Durrës in the coming months. The prosecution has identified the company "Sokolaj" shpk, a mineral import-export company based in Durrës owned by citizen Gjovana Sokolaj as the exporter of the containers and the Turkish company "Kurum International" sh.a as the source of these products.
The Ministry of Environment in a reaction to the media admitted that the waste loaded in Durrës came from the metallurgist. "Volumes of goods which are suspected to contain waste from the technological process carried out by international companies operating near the metallurgical complex in Elbasan", said the ministry in a statement to the media.
The Kurum company has denied having anything to do with the export of hazardous waste.
Investigations related to toxic waste have raised the alarm among citizens in Elbasan. Arben Ramkaj, head of the Interfaith Center in Elbasan, reacted through social networks, stressing that the city is silent on an important issue such as toxic waste. "Sensitization and transparency are needed from the company in question and the policy-making in the city must clarify to the citizens what is really happening", wrote Ramkaj.
Meanwhile, on Monday, a news was spread in the media about the closure of work near Kurum and mass dismissal of employees. However, the Labor Inspectorate, after communicating with the company, found that the closing of the processes was related to technical issues of the company and that the workers were not fired, but had received paid annual leave./ BIRN
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