Ministry closure prompts Zogiani to question the legality of the facility in Radoniq

The ministry has closed the “Liqeni i Dukagjinit” hotel and restaurant, built in the protected area of Lake Radoniq. Following the decision, Avni Zogiani, an activist with the Vetëvendosje Movement, raised questions about how the facility was built, used and put into operation.

In a post he published, Zogiani said the property was publicly owned and had been leased to an operator. According to him, the case involves a series of possible violations of legal provisions.

Zogiani claims that the facility was built on the basis of an “Approval” issued by Arben Çitaku, the former secretary of the Ministry of Environment.

“This Approval is entirely unlawful, because the MESP does not issue such approvals for use,” he wrote.

He also questioned the document’s contents. According to him, although KRU “Radoniqi” was authorized to use the facility, the document did not allow this right to be transferred to a third party without the ministry’s prior approval.

Zogiani also said that this approval was contrary to the Law on Water and the government’s 2013 decision on Radoniq. In his interpretation, the decision bans hotel and tourism activities in this area, which has the status of a sanitary zone and serves as a source of drinking water.

One of the concerns he raised relates to the use for which the facility was originally intended.

According to Zogiani, the building, erected during the 1970s and later demolished and rebuilt, was intended exclusively for administrative purposes. For this reason, he claims it should not have been used for other functions.

He also said that the facility should have gone through the legalization procedure, but that, according to him, this did not happen.

Among other things, Zogiani also mentioned the lack of water consent and a water permit, as well as the lack of authorization to transfer the facility to a third party.

He stressed that, even under the contested approval for use, the operator was required to treat discharged wastewater. His claim is that this obligation was not fulfilled.

“There are also dozens of other technical violations, but I won’t burden you with too much today!” Zogiani wrote, suggesting that there may be other violations related to the matter that he did not elaborate on in his post.