Prishtina warns of criminal complaint against KMDK over problems at Mirash landfill

Uncollected waste for several days has caused concern among residents of various neighborhoods in Prishtina. The regional company “Pastrimi” apologized to citizens for the delays, saying they were caused by a change in the hours during which landfills administered by the Kosovo Landfill Management Company (KMDK) accept waste.

Piles of waste were seen on “Muharrem Fejza” Street, while similar problems were also reported in Hajvalia and other areas of the capital.

“They haven’t come over there for a week now,” one citizen said.

Another resident stated: “They haven’t collected it for two weeks; they haven’t collected it for three weeks.”

“The situation is extremely urgent,” another citizen said.

The company “Pastrimi” acknowledged that waste collection services had not been fully carried out in several neighborhoods of Prishtina, as well as in other cities where it operates, and apologized to residents.

According to the company, the difficulties arose following KMDK’s decision to change its operating hours.

The issue was also addressed by officials from the Municipality of Prishtina, who responded during a press conference.

“Closing the landfill for seven consecutive hours has had irreparable consequences for managing the waste collection cycle. What exactly is this closure causing us? For seven hours straight, the trucks belonging to the company “Pastrimi,” which collect waste throughout the night, have nowhere to unload,” said Besianë Musmurati, deputy mayor of Prishtina.

Meanwhile, the director of public services, Leutrim Retkoceri, called for the landfill in Mirash to open at midnight. “Tonight at twelve o’clock, we are asking for the gates of the Mirash landfill to be opened so that the waste in the capital can be removed. Otherwise, our actions will no longer be the same,” he stressed.

In its written response, KMDK explained that the review of waste acceptance hours was part of a planned process to analyze and reassess operating conditions. According to the company, the decision was not related only to the sanitary landfill in Mirash, but to all sanitary landfills and the transfer station under its management.

KMDK also announced that the number of vehicles depositing waste at night was relatively low compared with the number of vehicles arriving during the day.

According to the company, this had led to increased operating costs and the partial use of human and technical capacities. The analysis also identified occupational safety concerns, including insufficient lighting at some unloading points, the presence of stray dogs and other difficulties that could endanger workers during night shifts.

Based on these findings, the working group proposed reorganizing waste acceptance hours by setting schedules suited to the workload and operational needs of each unit, KMDK said in its response.