At the beginning of 2023, the Minister of Tourism and Environment, Mirela Kumbaro, during a special conference to present the "Achievements, Challenges and Objectives of the Year", unveiled ambitions for improving the quality of bathing waters in the country.
"The goal is to get to zero and advance with another procedure, which is the blue flag for beaches. The aim is to zero out problematic bathing waters," she stated, citing data from the European Environment Agency.
The same agency, a year later, raises the alarm about the quality of water in Albania. Contrary to what Kumbaro promised, Albania ranks last in Europe for the quality of bathing water.
These figures place Albania as the country with the lowest percentage of excellent quality and the highest for poor quality, among all the countries included in the analysis.
"There are at least four recent reports from the European Environment Agency that show the deterioration of the quality of bathing waters in Albania. We are far from the blue flag. And this is harming tourism," says Olsi Nika, director of Eco Albania.
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Of the 119 water points monitored in the country, only 16% were classified as “excellent” quality, a dramatic drop from 41% a year earlier and far below the EU average of 85.4%. Even more worrying is the fact that 22.7% of Albania’s waters have poor quality.
46% of the waters monitored in the country result in good quality and 11.8% have sufficient quality.
While Minister Kumbaro promotes the idea of blue flag beaches, an international standard that requires high water quality, sustainable management, and complete services, data shows that we are far from it.
The European Environment Agency says the main problem is a lack of investment in wastewater treatment. Often, untreated sewage ends up directly in the sea or rivers, contaminating coastal areas that have become epicenters of mass tourism.
The report also highlights that intense rainfall and occasional flooding can significantly increase pollution from sewage networks.
Therefore, for countries with poor rankings, such as Albania, the European Environment Agency recommends urgent measures including the construction of wastewater treatment plants, strengthening seasonal monitoring, and the active involvement of local communities in environmental control and protection.
cONcluSiON
Based on the data collected, we categorize Minister Mirela Kumbaro's statement about the zeroing of problematic bathing waters in Albania as untrue.
Esmeralda Topi, Faktoje.al
Editorial
