Anyone living in Tirana is well aware that noise is one of the city’s most significant problems. The 2023 INSTAT census showed that one-third of Albania’s population resides in Tirana. This overpopulation, combined with the lack of effective measures to reduce noise pollution, has led to a situation where, according to the National Environment Agency, noise levels exceed permissible limits throughout the city, both during the day and night.
Jona Plumbi
‘Any citizen who feels threatened by this type of violence, namely noise, should seek help from any law enforcement officer’ – Erion Veliaj, hearing on the noise plan, December 2021
In late 2021, Tirana’s Mayor, Erion Veliaj, held a hearing to discuss a plan for reducing noise in the city. He urged citizens to reach out to the Municipal Police if they felt threatened by noise, which he aptly referred to as a form of violence.
Approximately two and a half years after this statement and the mayor’s plan to address acoustic pollution, Tirana and its residents continue to suffer daily from various forms of noise, much of which originates from construction sites.
The Municipality of Tirana itself acknowledges this problem. In response to an information request from Faktoje, the Municipality reported that from January to May 2024, around 110 complaints about noise pollution were filed with the Municipal Police. These complaints primarily concern noise from businesses or bars, car washes, water pumps in building areas, residents performing home repairs, bakeries, construction sites, and more.
What is concerning about this response is that the complaints from citizens and the mayor’s advice to seek their assistance with noise issues seem pointless. This is because the Municipality still lacks the necessary equipment and human resources to measure noise levels in the city.
‘The Municipality of Tirana cannot determine noise levels as it does not yet possess the equipment or specialized and trained personnel required to measure and control permissible noise levels […] and therefore cannot establish the permissible noise threshold values,’ according to the Municipality of Tirana.
In reality, the permissible noise threshold values can be referenced from the 2023 guidelines, which clearly define these values based on the standards set by the World Health Organization. These threshold values are also included in the noise control plan approved by the Municipality of Tirana for the years 2022-2027.
The directives from the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Tourism and Environment outline that it is the responsibility of the Municipal Police to measure noise levels resulting from economic or social activities and to impose fines if noise thresholds are exceeded.
Additionally, the guidelines require the Municipality of Tirana to assess noise levels in response to complaints from citizens, public and private organizations, or any other interested parties.
Facsimile of the 2023 noise guidelines from the three ministries
Despite this, the Municipality admits to Faktoje that it has not fulfilled this legal obligation.
The National Environment Agency is another institution tasked with measuring noise at designated locations throughout the country annually. Faktoje reached out to this agency to request information on the current noise pollution situation in the capital. According to the National Environment Agency, measurements at 15 different locations in Tirana reveal that noise levels exceed the allowed limits both during the day and night at all monitored sites.
In 2022, the latest official data from the National Environment Agency shows that the highest daytime noise exceeding was recorded at the ’21 Dhjetori’ monitoring point with a 25.45% increase, and at ‘Lapraka’ with a 25.47% increase. The most significant nighttime noise exceeding was observed at the ‘Former American Bank‘ monitoring point in Bllok near Wilson Square, with a 30.51% increase.
Given this public data and official information from state institutions, we regard the Municipality of Tirana’s promise to tackle and manage acoustic pollution through the Municipal Police as unfulfilled.
