Posted on October 14, 2024
The dramatic increase in gravel extraction activity by construction companies has caused environmental damage, with ripple effects on local economies and livelihoods.
This was said today on the occasion of the publication of the final report “State Capture: The Political Economy of Gravel”, by the Democratic Institute of Kosovo.
During this presentation, it was said that it is the rapid post-war construction in Kosovo, followed by a large increase in public investment in road infrastructure that has had a tremendous impact on the value chain of the construction sector, increasing the demand for gravel-sand construction.
Florent Spahija from this institute said that this activity has continued for a long period and has caused great damage.
“There is a lack of democratic control mechanisms that has caused social, economic and environmental damage. With the increase in the demand for gravel and such activities, river beds have been damaged, which has caused serious damage to the economy, to local people, and even archaeological values have been damaged,” said Spahija.
According to him, politics has made the regulatory bodies to be the people who enable this digging of gravel. He added that a large part of Kosovo has been degraded.
“Civil society and the media have been quite active, but judicial procedures and the prosecution have not shown efficiency”, said Florent Spahija.
Arben Kelmendi from KDI said that the only option is to communicate with the Government and its stakeholders until the demands are met.
“With this project, we wanted to sensitize citizens to the problems that occur in our country and in the region,” said Kelmendi.
