A teardrop runs down her chin to fall into the dirty water that is crashing in waves on the first floor of her house. “I am black. My hard work, the sweat of my family are gone. In that house I also have the life of my husband who died in Greece while working. The water came and took everything from me. I am black, I am miserable”, repeats under the obvious trauma, Lumie Muçaj, the 57-year-old woman who has lived for 26 years in the area of the former swamp in Durrës. “The flood did not come to us from God, but from the state, I am a Socialist”, intervenes from the balcony of the second floor an elderly woman, who after each sentence of complaint repeats that she is a socialist and that now “the state has put its hand on your heart”.
“I am mourning. My hard work, my family’s sweat, are gone. In that house I also have the life of my husband who died in Greece while working. The water came and took everything from me. I am black, wretched I am”
Over 840 families in the former swamp area are under water, with major damage mainly to household appliances, as the flood of polluted waters (rainwater mixed with sewage and oil residues) occurred in a time frame of 15-20 minutes, leaving no opportunity to move furniture and other equipment. From Porto-Romano, to the depths of the city of Durrës, the floods are catastrophic.
The question that requires an answer more than from experts should come from the Durrës Prosecutor’s Office, which is discussing the opening of investigations mainly for the charge: “destruction of property with serious consequences; and abuse of office”. This is also based on the fact that there is a serious case to answer on its hands. A 54-year-old employee of the municipal enterprise Plazh Durrës was found drowned by divers in a drainage canal near the Plepave area.
Hydrovor above quota
Complaints everywhere, along with the question of where this disaster came from, from God, nature who flooded Durrës out of ignorance or the petty interests of the trio; central government-local government-business?! “The closure of the old hydroelectric dam and the relocation of the new hydroelectric dam to a higher elevation have brought about this catastrophic consequence,” says hydro and port engineer Tomor Spahiu to Faktoje.al.
The decommissioning of the old aqueduct was done to pave the way for the construction of the new commercial port, which today serves mainly for oil tankers. For expert Spahiu, but also many other researchers, this brought about the catastrophic consequences that Durrës is going through today, but will likely experience at any time. “The relocation of the aqueduct was done to create facilities for Kastrati”, emphasizes Spahiu.
History of the old hydroelectric power plant
Durrës is an area affected by floods and not without reason since 1928 two large drainage canals have been operating. The first extended from Vila e Zogut to Porto Romano, while the second from Shën Avlashi to Plepa. “Both of these canals are blocked. I don’t know with what logic, with what expertise and with what purpose this situation happened”, says engineer Spahiu. According to him, previous engineering studies were accurate and efficient, initially by the Austrians between the First World War, then by the Italians, the communist system and continued until four years ago. “Durrës should not have flooded. In addition to the two main canals that were blocked, another major reason for the floods is the displacement of the dam”, suggests Spahiu. The old dam was at the lowest point of Durrës and drew the entire water volume, but three years ago the dam’s area was transferred to the Kastrati company, which was to begin construction of a new commercial port there, which today serves mainly for the anchoring and then unloading of oil tankers and its by-products.
The new hydropower plant is almost non-functional.
After giving the space of the old hydropower plant for port development, in November 2021, the Municipality of Durrës opened the competition for the construction of the new hydropower plant. With a fund of 20.5 million euros, three companies, a consortium of operators, undertook the construction of this work, but the place where it would be built still brings surprises today, especially in terms of engineering. “The new hydropower plant was built at a high cost, it is almost non-functional,” emphasizes expert Spahiu. Journalist Geri Emiri, director of Afora media and a resident of Durrës, told Faktoje.al that investments in the new hydropower plant, or the diversion of drainage channels, led to a worsening of the flooding situation. “The investments have led to diversions of existing channels that, although they were built for rainwater from the hills and agricultural lands, also serve as “open sewers” for used water from the city’s peripheral areas,” says Emiri.
“Investments have led to diversions of existing canals that, although they were built for rainwater from hills and agricultural lands, also serve as “open sewers” for used water from the city’s peripheral areas.”
He further adds that: “The construction by the Albanian government and the commissioning of a new hydropower plant in the Porto-Romano area has not brought any visible improvements in coping with floods in the city, on the contrary, since 2025 they have been coming and expanding on the map of the areas they affect.” “In several researches at Median Amfora, we have documented how the Durrës Waterworks has received over 150 million euros in loans since 2013 to invest in the water supply and sewage network, but has clearly failed to improve the situation on the ground,” says Emiri.
But what did Prime Minister Edi Rama say in 2012 when he was in opposition? “Albania is not governed because there is no government of Albanians in this country, there is only a gang of thieves” At different times, after 13 years in power, today we find ourselves in the same situation, categorizing Rama’s statement as mere propaganda.
consequence
Ironically, the street “Saint Asti” (the first martyred cleric, crucified by the Romans in 78 AD, in Durrës), is so flooded that the consequences are floating everywhere. The rainwater, frighteningly mixed with sewage and oil, has brought to the surface children’s slippers and their toys, as a significant sign that in addition to the economic consequences, the spread of various infections will not be far off. “There have been floods before, but never like now. I’ve been here for 30 years and there has never been a flood like this. There’s nothing left. All the furniture has been destroyed, the washing machine, the refrigerator, the stove, the kitchen is all damaged. I even bought new sofas before the new year, now they’re no longer used. A catastrophe,” says Albin Muçaj, originally from Kukës, who came to Durrës in 1996, with pain, as he repeats, “it has always rained, even more than these two days and we have never been flooded like this.”
“There have been floods before but never like this. I’ve been here for 30 years and there has never been a flood like this. There’s nothing left. All the furniture is out of use, the washing machine, the refrigerator, the stove, the kitchen is all damaged. I even bought new sofas before the new year, now they’re no longer used. A disaster.”
We find ourselves in cases where there is no need to knock on wet doors, as residents each ask you for your own account to insistently show the damage. The problem is common. The reason that the damage is really very great is related to the speed of the flood, where within 20 minutes the water exceeded 60 centimeters on all the first floors. “I have complete house damage. Ten thousand euros of furniture have been destroyed. My car is gone, my house is gone, who will compensate me for this? We were flooded because the municipality opened the reservoir so that a bar would not flood and dumped the water from the apartments. They also closed the old water supply”, says Altin Priftit, full of irritation, while barefoot he wanders both in the yard of the house and on the side of the road, insistently asking: “Can the municipality come, where are they?”. In one of the recent appearances, the Mayor of Durrës, Emiriana Sako, and the Minister of Defense Pirro Vëngu blamed the problem on heavy rainfall.
The city under water
In every alley you enter, you face the same problems. Only those apartments that were raised at least 2 meters above the ground have suffered less flooding, from the former swamps to the vicinity of the Durrës Prison, the flooding continues for the third day in a row, while the city of Durrës saw a small improvement on Wednesday, but the presence of water even in the most densely populated urban area continues to be a problem. “I have a lot of damage to my house, because it is on the first floor. Cars are damaged and you have no idea what damage this flood has caused us,” says a citizen near the Durrës Stadium area.
“My son’s entire bedroom is destroyed, with a washing machine, refrigerator, TV and everything. We are in a major disaster. We don’t even have drinking water,” Bektash Shahini, another resident of Durrës, tells Faktoje. There is extensive damage, mainly to vehicles and businesses on the first floors, while the former swamp is in a catastrophic situation. The hydroelectric plant didn’t work until 12 noon and everyone knows that. This flood was made to drive the community out of here and make it like May 5 in Tirana, or other communities. Neither the municipality, nor the government, nor the emergency services have come. May God help us, because we are finished as a state,” Mark Ndrea tells Faktoje.
The solution without a solution
For the renowned engineer Tomor Spahiu, the former swamp area, but also the entire urban area of Durrës, will go through catastrophe after catastrophe in the future. “They need to restore the first hydropower plant to function. It used to support all of Durrës. Also urgent is the opening of the two main drainage channels. The way the new hydropower plant was built is not worth it. The situation is very serious, I speak both as an expert and as a resident of this city,” says Spahiu, while closing: “The one who is paying for it is the people.”
“The one who is paying is the people”
The Durrës Prosecutor’s Office is expected to issue a notice to open investigations, while the situation remains quite serious, despite the engagement of local structures and some military assets.
