‘Live Green’ in Pogradec – MJAFT Movement

By Kristi Pinderi

Pogradec, 21 May 2006

The “Live Green” national campaign, organized by the MJAFT Movement to raise awareness about the environment protection, visited Pogradec on Sunday.

Tens of MJAFT activists, citizens of Pogradec as well as representatives of the local authorities, participated in a debate about the environment problems, this small city in the south-east Albania faces today.

A representative of the Municipality of Pogradec , presented the Plan of the Environmental Actions, published a few months ago. He also presented all the services the Municipality does in the environmental field.

After having noticed serious problems in a city visited earlier, the MJAFT Activists had the possibility to see a hopeful reality in the city of the poet Lasgush Poradeci.

Private companies, responsible for this service, administer about 35 tons of urban wastes of this city with 40 inhabitants, in a transparent way. Over 300 times a year, this company washes the streets systematically, cleans the mud created by the rain, while before every holiday season, the same company cleans the sand in all the lakesides. Besides, it also disinfects all the containers placed in all the quarters of the city.

According to a poll made by USAID, in the beginning of 2006, about 72% of the citizens of Pogradec said they were very satisfied with these services, while this figure, in national level, is not higher than 45%.

With a little more effort compared to other tourist cities, Pogradec is one of the cities with very improved and clean beaches, followed by Divjaka, Velipoja and Shengjin.

According to Erion Vesho, the vice mayor of Pogradec, the biggest problem of this city that has found a solution, is the pollution of the lake. This lake, which is declared national riches, has been object of tens of environmental projects during the last years. Since almost 7 years, a German organization has financed a project to keep the lake clean. After doing a real study, this project is currently being implemented.

At the end of the debate, activists of the MJAFT Movement did a concrete action to clean the lakeside, where thousands of tourists will go and rest starting from June 18, the official date of the opening of the holiday season. The MJAFT Movement gave to this city over 20 bins.

The “Live Green” campaign has passed until today in the cities of Fier, Saranda, Delvina, Gjirokastra, Përmet, Korça, while its itinerary passes in Elbasan, Shkodra and Peshkopi.