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Democratic Party MP Ina Zhupa has reacted to UNESCO's decision to include Lake Ohrid on the list of World Heritage in Danger. She described this decision as a grave one for Albania and a direct consequence of the government's negligence.
According to Zhupa, repeated warnings over the years have been deliberately ignored by Albanian institutions, while decisions have been made in function of clientelistic interests and construction plans that severely violate protected areas.
She emphasizes that UNESCO has demanded the immediate halt of projects such as the Drilon-Tushemisht Water Park and changes to the urban planning of Pogradec, while appealing for criminal prosecution of all officials and parties involved in the violations.
Full statement:
Unfortunately, what we had predicted happened. It's one of those cases where you don't want to be right, but no one paid attention to UNESCO's previous decisions and our hundreds of public objections.
In the draft decision on Lake Ohrid, which is being discussed at the 47th Session of the World Heritage Committee, UNESCO, after having repeated several times since 2020 its deepest concern over the approval of the Drilon-Tushemisht Water Park and having asked the government to immediately stop the implementation of the project, has come out with the position that: Lake Ohrid will be inscribed on the list of World Heritage in Danger.
Very bad news for Albania, a regression in the protection of world heritage properties. Every previous decision by UNESCO has fallen on deaf ears and in the blind eyes of the government and clients.
This situation comes from the increase in government construction plans thanks to the amendment of the law on protected areas and the unconditional handover to AADF, the concessionaire of Butrint, who own 7 of the 15 subprojects of the Water Park, including parking lots, and of course the Visitor Center.
The Kumbaro-Granoff propaganda, as you can see and some footage from the news reports you can see, talked about protection, while UNESCO not only opposes it but has gone so far as to demand penalization as a way of reflecting and respecting standards.
UNESCO expresses deep regret over the construction of a five-story complex in Tushemisht and the establishment of development zones near Tushemisht, Drilon Springs and the Lin Peninsula without appropriate assessments of their environmental impact.
They demand from the Albanian government clearly and unequivocally that:
a) Review and reduce development in Tushemisht in accordance with the requirements for the conservation of Outstanding Universal Values;
b) Amend the General Local Plan of Pogradec to exclude urbanization possibilities in ecologically sensitive areas, including those between Tushemisht and Burime i Driloni, as well as on the Lin Peninsula;
c) Strictly implement regulatory measures for the protection of the VJU property.
So it demands that the Albanian government give up construction in protected areas, not to concrete Pogradec, Drilon, Tushemishti, Lini and everything that comes in front of it because this does not serve either the country or the protection of assets with extraordinary universal values. UNESCO demands what we have also demanded and continue to demand with the battle for the law of protected areas in the Constitutional Court. Precisely so that we do not face situations where we risk the non-existence of assets with extraordinary universal values and they are declared in danger.
As the chairwoman of the committee responsible for culture, I demand the respect and implementation of UNESCO's recommendations without any delay. And I support UNESCO in its monitoring of Albania's protection of the national treasures inscribed therein.
On the scales are the AADF dollars, the profits of the oligarchs and the violations and benefits of the government, and on the other hand is the public interest and the preservation of the natural and cultural heritage and the pristine VJUs. The citizens and we choose the latter and will stand to the end for their protection.
I also publicly call on the Prosecutor's Office to immediately open a criminal case to hold legally accountable all government, local or AADF actors who have intentionally violated UNESCO recommendations and the laws of the Albanian state and are knowingly destroying the Albanian cultural-natural heritage.
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