5800 farming families in seven villages of Durres will finally have water for their lands after 25 years. The gates of the Tarini reservoir that with its 11.5 million m3 capacity covers 4,000 hectares of irrigated land, opened for the first time after two and a half decades of malfunctioning due to degradation and obstruction of the irrigation canals. Accompanied by the Mayor of Durres Vangjush Dako, Prime Minister Edi Rama visited today the Tarini reservoir. In addition to the rehabilitation of the reservoir gates, some of the primary and secondary irrigation canals have also been rehabilitated up to this stage of the investment.
“This is the largest reservoir in the municipality of Durres. Despite a modest investment, we committed to open the gates of reservoir which were blocked for 25 years and made the reservoir dysfunctional. We succeeded in unblocking the gates only thanks to our will power, and supply 1500 hectares of land with irrigation water through this reservoir. In addition, we have started investing on the clearance of the main canal, which is supplied with water by this reservoir, and we will succeed in providing with water the farmers of this area for approximately 4 thousand hectares of land. I don’t know if it was due to personal interests or to incompetence, but the fact is that this reservoir has not worked. We will continue with the clearance and arrangement of approximately 200 kilometres of canals of the Municipality of Durres, so that all the farmers of this area will be provided with water”, the Mayor explained.
The Prime Minister noted that the interventions that are being made in the territory are a result of the territorial and administrative reform, which enhances the local government. “This big operation in the territory could not take place without doing first the administrative reform, and without having a second level of the local government with the required capacity and strength to undertake this operation, thanks to which tens of thousands hectares of agricultural land will be finally irrigated after more than 20 years, and tens of thousands farming families will have a chance to be self-employed. There are 5800 families in Durres only, whose members would spend their days staring at the sky, or would go to Durres or Tirana to look for any job, just to keep themselves alive. They couldn’t work their land because there was no water. This investment will bring a tremendous boost of agricultural production, and will definitely be a great help for exports, in a thorough process of reorganization, where what is happening with direct investments for collection points and agro-processing which we are strongly supporting, interest will increase along with cooperation and the joint energies for farmers. This new value chain will be closed and will lead us into a new era for agriculture.”
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Fatmir Kërrbaqi is one of the farmers who benefitted from the recovery of the Tarini reservoir. He has built in Hamallaj one of the most modern greenhouses for organic products. Fatmir’s farm was visited today by Prime Minister Rama.
Fatmir has invested 1 million dollars on the construction of 1.5 hectares of greenhouses with advanced Israeli and Dutch technology. His fruits and vegetables are intended not only for the domestic market, but also for export. He said that water is vital for the lands as much as it is necessary for the farmers to be provided with TIN. “Everything is perfect. Water has started to be supplied, TIN is being issued and everything is in order. I have been exporting for all these years, but TIN was really necessary. Now that you have it, you have no other obligation. That’s the best thing. Many people were probably not ready this year, but they will arrange to plant corn next year, or maybe the following years. These 5800 families who have water today thanks to the reservoir, have planted alfalfa for 25 years, because there was no water for their lands, and they would pray God to pour down rain”, Kërrbaqi said.
The government has foreseen supporting measures also for the producers of greenhouses. The Prime Minister urged farmers to take advantage of the facilities created by the state guarantee fund, in order to expand their activity. If you manage to have 10 hectares, you will receive a direct 100 thousand dollar support by the government. Second, thanks to the state guarantee fund that we have created, we built a relationship and we are about to enter an agreement with the commercial banks, through EBRD, so that for all projects concerning agriculture, livestock and the countryside, farmers will be granted loans with very favourable interest rates. Bank loans for this area will have low interest rates, which will be paid by the state for certain projects. 300 million euros are available for the next three years. Those who have already a base will receive support to expand the activity.”
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The reconstruction of the road Hidrovor-Perlat-Hamallaj has begun in Katund i Ri of Durres. This important investment will facilitate connection to the market for the farmers of the area. The project, which is worth approximately 75 million Albanian Lek, includes also the expansion of the three bridges, in addition to the drainage system and the construction of sidewalks in residential areas.
“An approximately 6.4 kilometre long road will serve 6 thousand residents of the area from Perlat to Hidrovor. It is also a tourist road which connects the Tirana-Durres highway to the sea. A big investment has been made in the tourist area. This road is not only for residents and farmers, but also for tourists. It will boost agro-tourism, because it is connected to the hills of Ishem and the fields of Hamallaj”, Mayor Vngjush Dako said.
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Sewage will flow no longer into the sea in the beach of Durres. The area along the road “Pavarësia”, stretching from Ura e Dajlanit to Plepa, is undergoing a thorough rehabilitation. Bering this one of the most populated areas in the summer months with approximately 23 thousand daily visitors, in addition to the approximately 22 thousand residents, its existing underground infrastructure cannot face this flow, while public spaces are scarce and the drinking water supply is a problem. Three investments have started in this area in terms of infrastructure of drinking water, water supply and sewage. The latter is expected to end the problem of wastewater flowing into the sea.
“This is the largest investment made in the Beach road. This investment consists of three investments. We have an investment of the World Bank for the arrangement of the sewage system. Finally, no more wastewater flowing into the sea in the whole beach area of Durres. The main collector that has been already built will collect all the wastewater which will flow in the wastewater plant. In addition, there is a 1.6 million dollar investment of the Albanian government for the supply with water of the whole area. The totally amortized 30-year old network will be replaced by a new one that will be connected with all the deposits of Divjake and Çerme to supply with water the whole tourist area of the beach”, Mayor Vangjush Dako said while giving some details of the investment.
In addition to the rehabilitation of the underground infrastructure, the area on both sides of the road “Pavarësia” is being recovered and the exit roads to the beach are being reconstructed. Since this road is primarily intended four tourism, priority will be given to pedestrians and bicycles. These investments will not affect the investment made two years ago for the construction of the bicycles lane, greenery and lighting.
