During the program Jeta në Kosovë, Jeta Xharra discussed with officials of the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, the investor MATKOS Group, representatives of civil society, inhabitants and Police of Kosovo for construction of hydro power plants along the Lepenc River.
In the program the investor of the hydro power plants in Lepenc River, Labinot Vitija, said that
inhabitants will never remain without water. “As for us, investors, there will never happen that citizens will remain without water, if it happens, it is the Ministry entitled to punish us, also if they do not believe in the law, then I promise you that citizens will never remain without water”, promised Vitija.
Even Bekim Shyti from the Renewable Energy Association, said that if the river has water, then the
inhabitants will never remain without water as far as the investor is concerned.
“The businesses that are building these hydro power plants do not damage the environment, they do not
get the water and I guarantee you that no inhabitant will remain without water and if the Lord forbids
you, I have nothing to do, but if there is water in the river then Labinot will stop the turbines and you
will not remain without water” said Shyti.
This promise came after the complaints of the inhabitants of that area, pretending that they had never
been informed about public hearings related to these investments.
Shpejtim Arifi, an inhabitant of the village of Lower Biti said that there were no public hearings for the
construction of mini hydro power plants in Lepenc. “When the municipality gave the license for the utilization of the property, there were not organized public hearings, if you say that there were organized, prove the contrary. We have been in the commission when the minister reported and he was justified in finding the cause in the municipality,
and since then no municipal official came to share two minutes and this is the minimum of democracy”,
said Arifi.
Diana Metushi- Krasniqi from KDI said that inhabitants have never been informed for the organization of
public hearings and they were organized in a place when the citizens didn’t have a lot of possibilities to
go and be informed about the construction of these hydro power plants. Also, Metushi-Krasniqi said that these citizens lacked information about what awaits these residents before and after the construction of the hydro power plants.
Afrim Lajçi from the Inter-Ministerial Council on Waters in the Government of Kosovo said in the
program Jeta në Kosovë that the water use permit has to be issued through a concession and not a
water utilization permit. He said that granting of water utilization permits is a legal violation that the Ministry of Environment did. Furthermore Lajçi continued saying that the ministry has to show the location where the hydro
plants will be build according to the capacity and not to leave the investor choose the place. Lajçi added that another problem of these hydro power plants is that they are not based in strategic-hydro-technic plans and are being built in protected zones.
“Granting of the right for utilization of water sources for hydro power plants and all other utilization is
given through concession and lot water utilization permits, here there is a legal violation since the
beginning and this violation is done by those who are entitled to grants permits, in this case the Ministry
of Environment because concession is different from the permit because it is a competing and transparent process. No one will come and say that here I want to build a hydro power plant, but the state – the Ministry defines locations where there are hydro energetic capacities and for that launches an open call where people compete with specific criteria and there is chosen the best offer. IN Kosovo concessions have not been applied at all, instead there were granted permits on use and exploitation of water upon a request of an investor”, said Lajçi.
During the program, three officials of the Ministry said that public hearings have been held and that
signatures of citizens do exist. However, the hydro power plant investor itself, MATKOS Group, has stated that no one but the ministry and investors participated in these public hearings. The legal obligation to hold public hearings with residents of areas where small hydro power plants are built is being fulfilled only on paper. The show confirmed that no citizens participated in the public hearings for the construction of hydro power plants. The Ministry of Environment confirms only the organization of public hearings, but they are not sure if there were citizens, which is the main reason why such a meeting is organized. In the absence of information, many citizens have revolted and
protested to oppose the construction of hydro power plants only after work on their construction began.
