ALBNET-EITI organized a workshop with municipality officials, civil society representatives and environmental, forestry and mining specialists in Bulqiza on February 10, 2020, regarding the implementation of EITI standards by the extractive industry in this municipality and capacity building and expanding the civil society coalition.
The leader of the Albanian civil society network for the transparency of the extractive industry AlbNet-EITI, Anila Hajnaj explained that more careful management of natural resources is needed as they are exhaustive, therefore the benefits of the extractive industry should serve the development of a sustainable economy.
Discussants called for greater fiscal autonomy. Also the state in the criteria for obtaining licenses should set conditions for companies to invest in community projects, Central institutions to consult with local authorities on terms of contracts relating to the social impact of industry also on the environment. One of the most important requirements was the proper reconciliation of the royalty, especially when it comes to the ore extracted from Bulqiza mines and goes to processing in other cities. The royalty, both for domestic sales and post-processing exports should only go to the municipalities whose mines are used and the population bears its consequences and not in any city where it is processed.
The need to collect the benefits of water use and concessionary fee of hydro energy to be implemented the same scheme as for the mineral royalty was also discussed.
At the end of the meeting representatives of the community and civil society were invited to join the EITI network so that the community together with the civil society can help in the management of natural resources in the best interest of the citizens.