The Chairman of the DP Parliamentary Group, Gazment Bardhi, has addressed an official request to the government to declare a state of natural disaster for the regions of Durrës, Lezhë, Elbasan, Shkodër, Gjirokastër, Vlorë and Fier, as well as to make a full and objective assessment of the real value of the damages and full financial compensation for the damages to the affected residents.
Also, the DP parliamentary group has requested the Speaker of the Assembly to take measures so that the Council of Ministers informs the Assembly about the situation created, the risks that arise, and the measures taken to manage the situation.
Below is the full letter from the Chairman of the DP Parliamentary Group, Gazment Bardhi, addressed to the Parliament, the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Defense and the National Civil Protection Agency:
For several days, certain regions of the country, mainly in the regions of Durrës, Lezhë, Elbasan, Shkodër, Gjirokastër, Vlorë and Fier, have been suffering the severe consequences of the natural disaster caused by floods and inundations of water, which unfortunately have caused considerable damage to homes, properties, and businesses of Albanian citizens. During today, it was also reported that a citizen from Durrës has lost his life due to this cause.
From the overall assessment of the situation, it results that the situation is serious and that state structures are not operating at full capacity throughout the entire territory of the country, affected by this natural disaster, and that they are not close to the affected residents.
According to Article 4 of Law No. 45/2019, “Every person has the right to protection from natural and other disasters. 2. In cases of natural and other disasters, the protection and rescue of human life have priority over any other civil protection activity”. Likewise, according to Article 41 of Law No. 45/2019, the Albanian state is responsible for the damages caused by the consequences of a disaster. In any case, when a state of natural disaster is declared, compensation may be made by a special decision of the Council of Ministers, upon the proposal of the minister, and the measure of compensation for damages, procedures, deadlines, state structures responsible for assessing damages, as well as the assets and entities to be compensated are approved by decision of the Council of Ministers.
In these conditions, we, the opposition deputies in the Albanian Parliament, assess that the conditions and circumstances have been met according to Law No. 45/2019 and Decision No. 158, dated 17.03.2021 of the Council of Ministers “On the approval of the criteria and procedures for declaring a state of natural disaster”, for declaring a state of natural disaster in the affected areas and specifically in the regions of Durrës, Lezhë, Elbasan, Shkodër, Gjirokastër, Vlorë and Fier. It is incomprehensible why the Council of Ministers has not yet undertaken such a procedure, creating uncertainty among citizens about how to cope with this natural disaster. Failure to declare a state of natural disaster would make it impossible to fully compensate the residents affected by this situation and would be a serious act of institutional irresponsibility.
For this reason, in accordance with letter “b” of Article 17 of Law No. 45/2019, which stipulates that “The Assembly exercises parliamentary control over issues related to civil protection”, as well as letter “ç” of Article 18, Article 39, points 1 and 41 of Law No. 45/2019, which specifies that: “The Council of Ministers may decide, for a period not longer than 30 days, a state of natural disaster in part or in the entire territory of the country”, we request:
- Declaring a state of regional natural disaster, only for the regions affected by floods and inundations, specifically the regions of Durrës, Lezhë, Elbasan, Shkodër, Gjirokastër, Vlorë and Fier.
- The state of emergency and the declaration of a natural disaster are classified as "floods and inundations of water, resulting from the increase in critical water levels, due to geological, atmospheric or human factors, in river beds, lake levels or coastal tides, which have temporarily covered land surfaces with water to a level that poses a risk to people, housing and infrastructure".
- The full and objective assessment of the real value of the damages and the full financial compensation for the damages to the affected residents, according to the right recognized by Article 41 of Law No. 45/2019 "On Civil Protection". The compensation measure shall be approved by decision of the Council of Ministers without delay and shall be covered by the State Budget funds.
- In light of the above, we, the opposition deputies, request from the ministry responsible for civil protection and from the Council of Ministers, the immediate implementation of Law No. 45/2019 and Decision No. 158/2021 of the Council of Ministers. Failure to act in a timely manner on your part would be criminal irresponsibility, with serious consequences for Albanian citizens.
- Also, in accordance with letter "d" of Article 18 of Law No. 45/2019, we request that the President of the Assembly of Albania take measures so that the Assembly of Albania is immediately informed by the Council of Ministers, through the responsible minister, about the situation created, the risks that arise and the measures taken to manage the situation.
