The city of Lezhe was the Prime Minister Edi Rama’s next stop as part of his tour to inspect the affected areas due to the heavy rains that have been battering many parts of Albania since last Friday. Thanks to the hard work by Lezhe Mayor and local government crews, the land area under flood waters in the north-western Albanian district, despite the torrential rains for several days now, has been significantly reduced like never before, whereas not a single home is flooded and less than 50 families needed help that has been promptly provided by the mayoral structures.
Lezhe Mayor Pjerin Ndreu informed the government head on the current situation that has been best handled also thanks to the investments in reinforcing the defending embankments and levees. However, it is a perennial problem anytime that Drin River overflows and the water recedes very slowly from the lowland areas of Gjader and Torovice.
“Gjadri is the main problematic hotspot. The water level was higher a day ago, around 50 centimetres above the bridge. The water level fell today morning. However, it is gradually increasing again with more rains to fall in the coming hours. We have dealt with the situation by resorting to our municipal resources and capacities. Gjader embankment has been reinforced. Flood waters haven’t entered the homes, however water has surrounded houses and land areas and we have been constantly contacting with the affected families. However, the flood risk is high in these lowland areas. With the support from the Ministry of Agriculture, we have been making utmost efforts to keep the flood waters at bay. This area doesn’t rely on the Drin drainage station, but on the station in Gjader,” Mayor Ndreu explained, adding that “chaotic urbanisation is taking its toll on this area and elsewhere around the country, as people have been allowed to build illegally over the water canals.”
On his part, Prime Minister Rama underlined that thanks to laudable work done by the local government in particular, the torrential rains were prevented from causing serious troubles as it was the case in the past.
“Taking notice of the way the cameras intentionally roll, how a series of statements purposefully are issued, and watching the media reports, one would think that catastrophe is happening. Indeed, the situation is actually difficult, and this is for completely objective reasons in certain areas. What matters most it is the fact that hard work has been done here and the whole area has been rehabilitated for several years now, thanks also the Municipality too, as the water recedes quickly as the drainage system has been already built. But nothing, no drainage canal systems would help in the case of flash storms and incredible torrential rains the quantity of which would exceed the capacity of any drainage system, not only here, but everywhere else. The stories about the water inflows and discharges from the main basins and dams have been exaggerated too, because if we are to look at the official data, in Shkodra too, they clearly show that the number of the affected people is minimal, and the flooded land area is way too smaller than during the huge devastating floods in the past years. This has traditionally been a flood-prone area,” PM Rama said.
