Defence Minister Olta Xhaçka press conference

Published: Saturday, 26 September 2020 09:21

 

The information received from the Institute of Geosciences, Water, and Environment and homologous synoptic centers of the neighboring countries shows a weekend characterized by storms and heavy rains, which may cause floods in some areas, mainly in the prefectures of Shkodra, Lezha, Durres, Fier or Gjirokastra.

To take preventive measures and put the operational structures on alert at local and central level, the Ministry of Defense, through the National Civil Protection Agency, notified the prefectures and local government in time, which in accordance with the "Civil Protection" law are the first responders in case of emergencies.

Ministry of Defense, during the two years of transferring the management of civil emergencies to its direct responsibility, in addition to dealing with disasters, has paid special attention to interventions to prevent damage from natural disasters. It is also thanks to these interventions of the Albanian Armed Forces, supported by the local government, that today, despite that precipitations have been and will be intense, the situation, until now that we are speaking is calm, and the houses that every year have had difficult flood situations, do not appear to be exposed to that every year risk.

Since 2018, the Ministry of Defense has assessed the risks caused by floods as one of the main disasters affecting the territory of the Republic of Albania and has massively intervened in strengthening the river embankments in some of the most dangerous areas.
In cooperation with the Fier Municipality, AAF completed the strengthening of the embankments on Vjosa and Seman rivers, contributing to the safety of the local population in an area that was flooded every autumn and spring. Thanks to the joint project of the Ministry of Defense and the drainage board, now the segment Gosë - Ballaj on the river Shkumbin, Manati gorge stream, Troshan stream, Pllana - Zejmen stream, and the overflow of the Gorishova stream are safer, which has done possible that despite the heavy rain of recent days, the annually apocalyptic situations in Shkodra, Fier, Vlora, Lezha, etc. caused by the swollen rivers, which continuously flooded the area are not repeated. During the last year alone, 450 km of water canals have been cleaned, which has had an immediate impact on protecting lands from floods.
In cooperation with the World Bank and PNUD, the Ministry of Defense is also working on the design and implementation of feasibility studies and disaster risk reduction strategies and for the first time, Civil Emergencies in Albania will soon have specific modules, built in cooperation with the European Union, to intervene in real time in cases of earthquakes, fires and floods.

Although these days, thankfully for all the reasons I listed above, we have not had the same situations we have faced almost every year, mostly in those areas classified as red areas, bad weather can still expose us in unexpected situations. Damaged sewerage systems, uncontrolled construction in endangered areas, blocked collectors and various problems that have come from the chaotic development of the territory until a few years ago, again expose us to potential problems whenever the inflows appear to be a high intensity.

For this reason, the Civil Protection structures at central and local level, municipalities and prefectures, the Armed Forces, the State Police are on alert and well coordinated to respond in a timely and efficient manner.

I am hopeful that, thanks to what we have done, the situations of previous years will not be repeated, especially in Shkodra, Fier, Vlora and Lezha. However, I take the opportunity to appeal to every citizen, in case of danger from floods, to notify their local Civil Emergency structures, to intervene in time, or call Emergency Number 116 - 116.

Municipalities, Prefectures, Civil Protection specialists, throughout the country have coordinated action plans and are committed and ready for any intervention to help anyone who may be in need and endangered by heavy rain, so that no human life may be at risk, and everything possible should be done to prevent damage to agriculture and livestock.