MASTER'S THESIS - SuSanA

APPENDIX C – Site visits
All the six villages are growing fast and have a positive population development. The region is important for
environmental protection as it is close to the Shkodra lake.
The access to the village by road is quite good, with even some asphaltic street parts in the village. Only
some streets were more or less paths out of clay and mud.
Figure C.3: Asphalt street in Dober (Niebel 2011) Figure C.4: Houses in Dober (Niebel 2011)
1.2 Water supply situation
According to the mayor of communes, Isa Ramaj, in all surrounding rural areas the water is taken from wells
for irrigation and non-drinking purpose but sometimes it can happen that people drink the water. To get
drinking water, people go by car or minibus to the next bigger city Koplic and buy bottled water or fill big
canisters with drinking water at public or private taps without paying for it. This drinking water comes from
the mountains and is said to be clean.
According to what was observed at the village visit, it seems that every house has an own well, equipped
with a pump and a storage on the roof so that people have water in the house. Toilets are most often
constructed inside the house and built as water-flush toilets.
At the moment, construction works for the ADF drinking water supply project are ongoing. After finishing
construction works, people will have a drinking water supply within the house and the consumed water will
be metered and sold with consumption-oriented tariffs.
To join the the water supply project, the village had to apply at the ADF. When CES did the feasibility study
in the village, people were invited to public meetings and stated that they want the project and that they
are willing to pay local contribution and the tariff for the consumed water. However, when they actually had
to pay (before construction), they said that they do not trust the project as many organisations have been
there already in the past without accomplishment. Isa Ramaj argued that people cannot be blamed for that
reaction because often in the past nothing happened after aid organisations had done their investigations.
The total investment cost of the project for the the six villages was 1.2 million ALL. 2 % of that amount had
to be paid by the beneficiaries and 8 % by the commune as a local contribution. As the commune did not
have enough financial means, Isa Ramaj applied for support at the government. Water supply will get tariffs
proved by the regulatory authority and houses will be equipped with water meters. That will be something
very new in rural areas in Albania and can hopefully prevent wasting the drinking water and support a
reasonable consumption.
C.2