"Anti-flooding" is estimated at 100 million dollars per year - Where should more be invested to "save" farmers from economic damage?
How prepared is Albania to cope with the risk of floods and climate change, due to insufficient preventive investments in this direction?
The history of the last few years has shown that the intensity of the rains in the autumn-winter period has brought continuous flooding in certain areas of the country, resulting in significant damage to farmers and agribusinesses.
In 2019, the government approved the National Irrigation and Drainage Strategy 2019-2031 and the action plan, which was precisely focused on taking concrete measures in this direction to prevent floods, but apparently 5 years later, the effects have been minimal.
But how much would all the necessary intervention cost to avoid this phenomenon that brings incalculable damage to Albanian families every year and how much does the state budget afford?
According to the assessment made by the Ministry of Agriculture, for a period of 10-13 years, where the calculation has been made since 2019, the total cost for the rehabilitation and modernization of the irrigation infrastructure, drainage infrastructure, irrigation reservoir dams and protection facilities from the flood, is about 717 million USD.
From this total of 253.6 million USD, the rehabilitation and modernization of the irrigation infrastructure is estimated to enable irrigation on the potentially irrigable surface of 360 thousand ha; 56.5 million USD to restore the drainage infrastructure to optimal parameters on the potentially passable surface of 280 thousand ha; 130.2 million USD rehabilitation of 410 dams (or about 65% of the total number) to increase their safety and guarantee water resources for existing schemes; 276.8 million USD increasing the safety of river and sea flood protection, through the rehabilitation/reconstruction of existing embankments and the construction of new structures.
Meanwhile, deducting the investments made until 2022, from 2022-2031, an investment level of around 700 million dollars was calculated.
The Minister of Agriculture emphasized a few days ago that this bill is still at the same levels, which means that if it were to be covered by the state budget, an average of nearly 100 million dollars per year would have to be made available until 2031- shin in order to solve this problem, while the annual funds allocated for this item in the budget cover only 20 percent of the need to invest.
Poll
"The free exchange rate regime withstood the shocks" - EBRD representatives meet with the governor, Sejko
The governor of the Bank of Albania, Gent Sejko, held a meeting with representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). During......
Intellectual and industrial property - Albanian Customs seizes over 40 thousand luxury goods!
Since the beginning of 2024, the Customs Administration, as a law-enforcement institution regarding the protection of intellectual property rights, has......
"The world will face an oil surplus in 2025" - IEA warns that supply will exceed demand next year
Global oil supply will exceed demand in 2025 even if OPEC+ cuts remain in place, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced. The prospect of a supply......
A 90 million-year-old amber is discovered in Antarctica - What does this mean?!
The new discovery has closed an important gap in the global map of amber finds: for the first time, it has been discovered in Antarctica. This discovery, led......
Is Albania preparing a joint military strategy with Kosovo?/ Minister Vengu explains the project: Not just training!
In recent days, the pilots of the Kosovo Security Forces have started training flights at the Farka Air Base with "Cougar" helicopters, after the theoretical......
IMF report: What can Europe learn from the US about economic growth?!
A thriving business sector, with new high-growth firms on the rise, particularly in the technology sector, are essential if Europe is to accelerate its......
EXCLUSIVE/ Albania, financing project with the Pentagon! - Defense Minister Pirro Vengu speaks
Albania is in talks with the Pentagon to be included in a funding program that will enable the realization of the necessary investments to increase......
The strangest facts about Elon Musk that you may not know!
America has spoken and season 2 of Donald Trump's Presidency is underway. His cabinet is taking shape, with Trump announcing that Elon Musk and former GOP......
