The Supreme Audit Office finds the culprit, the flood in Bunec was caused by the lack of maintenance of the Sasaj HPP

In the middle of winter, in the village of Bunec in Lukovë, the water from the Sasaj hydroelectric power plant swept away everything. Homes, businesses, trees, and memories – all submerged under the waves of a flood that could have been prevented.

Lack of investment in hydropower plant maintenance caused flooding of homes and businesses in the village of Bunec, Lukovë, in January this year, after the Sasaj HPP basin collapsed. This is the conclusion of the Supreme State Audit Office in an audit conducted on this hydropower plant 5 days after the floods occurred.

"The pressure basin of the "Sasaj" HPP in Saranda has been damaged as a result of non-compliance with legal provisions for the implementation of investments and its maintenance."

Further, the SAI has evidenced that the concession company, "Energo-Sas", in violation of the technical conditions of the contract, did not provide the main structures, especially the pressure basin, and because no investments were made for the maintenance of the works, the basin also cracked.

"The surrounding retaining structure of the basin had suffered damage as a result of the spillage of stored water, causing damage to vegetation in the mountain stream as well as to homes, businesses and infrastructure. In addition to the collapse of the basin wall, there was a crack in the reinforced concrete slab of the basin's foundation, which was caused some time ago."

According to the Albanian Supreme Audit Office, although these damages were ascertained by the concessionaire, no measures were taken to prevent this event. Another violation of this concession contract is the fact that during the summer 15% of the amount of water in the river or more was not released, significantly damaging the vegetation.

"More significantly, during 2022, the concessionaire did not release the required amount of ecological water into the existing river flow, creating consequences for the environment, but also for the residents of the area, due to the lack of water for irrigation."

As a result of this negligence, families lost their household goods, businesses were destroyed and the land was flooded. The fruit trees that once adorned the village were uprooted and left to rot. For this reason, the SAI has requested the dismissal of the director of AKBN, Erlind Sulo, as well as the director of monitoring at AKBN. It is also requested that AKBN and the Municipality of Himara take measures to compensate the families and businesses that were damaged. (A2 Televizion)